| For more information about this article or gallery, please call the gallery phone number listed in the last line of the article, "For more info..." |
May Issue 2003
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in Boone, NC, Celebrates Grand Opening
On May 3, 2003, the
cultural landscape of western North Carolina and the surrounding
region will be transformed, as Appalachian State University's
vision of establishing a regional visual arts center comes to
fruition, in the form of the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts.
The new facility, located in downtown Boone, NC, at the crossroads
between campus and community, will be the largest visual arts
center in northwestern North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and
Southwestern Virginia. The Turchin Center, named for longtime
arts supporters Robert and Lillian Turchin, is located at 423
West King Street in Boone.
The center will celebrate its grand opening on Sat., May 3. The
festivities will begin at 4pm with a commissioned performance
by artist Joyce Scott, in honor of the center's opening. The performance
is scheduled in Valborg Theatre, located just behind the Turchin
Center. Participants will then walk to the adjacent Turchin Center,
for a 5pm opening reception, featuring refreshments and live jazz.
Guests will be invited to view the center's opening exhibition
and to tour the center. Both the performance and the grand opening
reception are free and open to the public.
The centerpiece of the celebration will be the center's inaugural
exhibition in the Martin and Doris Rosen Galleries. Go Figure!
Manifestations of the Human Form in Contemporary Art, features
an extraordinary range of works, including sculpture, painting,
photography and digital imagery. The exhibit will be on view from
May 3 through Aug. 30, 2003. The roster of artists represented
in the exhibition presents a mix of monumental names in the world
of the visual arts, as well as some of the most exciting emerging
artists of today. Through this exhibit, Laurent Elie Badessi,
Jose Bedia, Willie Birch, Pepe Coronado, Audrey Flack, Ronald
Gonzalez, Ronna Harris, Susan Hauptman, Rima Jabbur, Alex Kuno,
Nina Levy, Allen Linder, Nicholas Micros, Milton Montenegro, Daido
Moriyama, Sandeep Mukherjee, Alison Saar, Joyce Scott and others
will explore the theme of the human figure in a variety of interpretations.
Due to limited parking, free shuttle bus service from the Broyhill
Inn will provide transportation to the 4pm and 5pm grand opening
events, for those who park in the Broyhill Inn lots.
The Turchin Center, located in the West King Street building formerly
occupied by the Boone United Methodist Church, gives shape to
one of Appalachian State University's long-held dreams: the creation
of a facility devoted specifically to exhibition, education and
outreach programs in the visual arts. Exhibits will focus on a
blend of new and historically important artwork, and will feature
works of nationally and internationally renowned artists, as well
as many of the finest artists of the region.
The spectacular Martin and Doris Rosen Galleries, as well as the
studios and outdoor sculpture gardens of this magnificent building
provide a dynamic setting for the viewing and enjoyment of art.
Students as well as community members will also find in the Turchin
Center a welcoming gathering place devoted to teaching and the
exploration of the visual arts through such initiatives as a Community
Art School and its multitude of workshops, lectures, and other
programs, as well as a strong connection to the university's highly
acclaimed Department of Art.
The Turchin Center will become operational in two phases. The first phase is reflected in renovations to the existing King Street building, which have created the Rosen Galleries- the center's main and mezzanine gallery spaces, which will feature the Go Figure! exhibit. Also included in this phase are a conference room and administrative offices, exhibit preparation and permanent collection storage areas, and an elevator to provide accessibility for visitors. A new construction phase will complete the project in late 2004 or early 2005, by creating a new wing with a downtown pedestrian entrance, additional gallery spaces, the Community Gateway Sculpture Park, a 135-seat Lecture Hall and multi-purpose event space, a gift shop, and visual arts library and archive space.
The new construction phase will also enable the center to fulfill its mission of education and outreach, in the form of a Community Arts School. The purpose of the Community Art School program is twofold: to enrich the lives of the participants by providing experiences that are both educational and therapeutic, and to build an audience that recognizes the importance of the arts in experiencing, interpreting, understanding, recording and shaping culture. While the programs cover a wide range of participants, from professional artists to children, they are designed to assist participants in learning more about themselves and the arts.
The Turchin Center is
the culmination of Appalachian's long-standing commitment to visual
arts programming. With the establishment of the Catherine J. Smith
Gallery twenty-two years ago, the university honored its commitment
to excellence in education by recognizing a regional icon in art
education. Smith served as Art Department chair for years, and
inspired countless people with her life-long love of art and learning.
As the program grew, it strengthened the belief that a strong,
vibrant, and regionally significant exhibition and education program
were necessary to assist Appalachian in becoming a major comprehensive
university.
Early commitments from supporters such as Doris and Martin Rosen,
and Charlotte and Sol "Buddy" Halpert helped to create
major national juried competitions and exhibitions. Both the
Halpert Biennial- a national juried two-dimensional exhibition
and The Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition
have provided venues for great art, and have helped raise the
national recognition and stature of the university's exhibition
program. The goal quickly turned to building upon these national
competitions, and the resource of student, faculty, and regional
work to create a strong foundation for a much expanded exhibition
program.
The move toward a facility dedicated solely to excellence in visual
arts education began in earnest almost thirteen years ago. Committees
comprised of community members, patrons, faculty and staff studied
options and spent hours researching other facilities and programs.
In 1998, the Boone United
Methodist Church, responding to a need for additional space, began
investigating the sale of its King Street property and the possibility
of building a new and larger facility. Upon hearing of the church's
desire to move, the university, under the leadership of Chancellor
Francis K. Borkowski, asked architect Michael Newman to study
the feasibility of converting the existing building into a center
for the visual arts. Fortunately, Newman had been working with
the core group of university staff and volunteers to plan the
center, and his expertise and knowledge of the needs of the university
made him an ideal candidate for the job. It was Newman's opinion
that the existing facility, with its unusual design and site placement,
would make an excellent component for the larger planned facility.
Of particular interest to the planning committees was the site's
location on King Street in downtown Boone.
The next step was to purchase the facility, and begin renovations.
Longtime university supporters Bob and Lillian Turchin became
aware of this exciting project through their close affiliation
with An Appalachian Summer Festival and other university
programs, and made the generous lead gift to purchase the facility.
Active in the planning since the first committee years earlier,
Martin and Doris Rosen once again supported the arts at Appalachian
with a generous gift. Following this outstanding show of support,
the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts and the Martin and Doris
Rosen Galleries received their names, honoring these dedicated
and hardworking benefactors.
Rounding out this phase of the facility is the beautiful and tranquil
Kay Borkowski Sculpture Garden, made possible by a gift from Ted
and Marty Couch. A generous gift from The Seby Jones Foundation
also provided major support during this first phase of the project.
Others have stepped forward with commitments toward the next phase
of construction, led by longtime friends of the arts, Budd and
Nanette Mayer.
In 1999, Hank Foreman
was named Director and Chief Curator of the Turchin Center. Foreman
obtained his MA degree in art education from Appalachian, having
completed undergraduate studies at UNC-Charlotte, with a concentration
in painting and sculpture. Prior to this appointment as acting
director of the Catherine J. Smith Gallery, he worked for three
years with the previous gallery director, Terry Suhre, first as
a graduate assistant, and later as Assistant Gallery Director.
During his tenure at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery, Foreman has
taken part in the organization of over 70 exhibitions and the
lectures, symposia and publication materials involved with these
exhibits, working closely with the university's Department of
Art and a wide variety of other campus and community groups to
make the resources of the gallery available to all. One of his
earliest exhibitions, Views From Ground Level: Art and Ecology
in the Late Nineties, brought internationally acclaimed artists,
historians and critics to the campus and received national attention.
Foreman is also an exhibiting studio artist, and participates
in regional and national conferences as a presenter and panelist.
Joining Foreman is the
second key member of the current Turchin Center staff, Brook Greene,
who serves as Program Assistant, working closely with Foreman
in every aspect of curating exhibitions and planning and managing
the center's operations. Greene received her undergraduate degree
in arts management and a BFA in ceramics from Appalachian. She
worked at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery for two years, prior
to accepting her current position with the Turchin Center.
In commenting on the mission of the Turchin Center, Foreman speaks
of the need to serve a variety of constituencies, including artists,
students, faculty and others well versed in the visual arts- as
well as those with no background or formal training in the arts.
"The center needs to be 'user friendly'," he notes;
"a place where people can visit, enjoy the exhibits, and
feel comfortable and welcome."
Foreman also envisions the Turchin Center and its programs playing
a role in overcoming negative attitudes about art in public settings.
Given the sometimes controversial nature of artwork displayed
across the Appalachian campus, for example, the issue sometimes
becomes merely "Do I like the artwork or not?" he observes.
"When this happens, we miss the opportunity to ponder other
more important questions about art- questions such as 'Why is
the work important?' 'What does this work mean to me? To the world?'
We need to create a safe and comfortable environment where people
can be exposed to art, and ponder some of these questions for
themselves."
The center offers several ways in which to get involved. Memberships are offered at all levels, with special membership levels for students, educators, ASU faculty and staff, individuals, and families, with additional membership/giving levels-each with a special set of benefits. Private support, including a strong membership base, naming opportunities, and corporate sponsorship opportunities, enables the center to implement its all-important programming initiatives. A docent program will involve volunteers in the daily functioning of the center and its programs.
In commenting on the center's inaugural exhibition, Go Figure!, nationally known art critic and curator John Perreault, who also serves as a contributing editor of NY Arts Magazine, notes that "in this off-beat survey of contemporary figurative art, we are exposed to a great formal and emotional range: horror, mystery, identity, self-consciousness, even the traditions of public statuary are major themes. In this particular selection of figurative art, the emphasis is not upon how reality looks, but how it feels and what it means. Appearances are made to represent meanings and often to question the reality of everyday perceptions."
For additional information
check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call Hank T. Foreman
at 828/262-3017, e-mail at (turchincenter@appstate.edu) or on
the web at (www.turchincenter.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2003 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts
Online, Copyright© 2003 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved
by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use
without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina
Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.