December 2011

Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, NC, Offers Three New Exhibitions

The three exhibitions being presented in the Hughes Wing at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, NC, includes: Murrinis Within a Crystal Matrix: The Poetic Glassworks of Richard Ritter, Mark Peiser: Reflections on the Palomar Mirror and Penland School of Crafts: Evolution and Imagination. These exhibitions are on view through Apr. 1, 2012.

Both Richard Ritter and Mark Peiser are honored as 2011 North Carolina Living Treasures. Thematically tied, both Ritter and Peiser attended Penland School of Crafts. The school is an international leader in the evolution of craft education located in western NC. This exhibition explores Penland then and now, featuring examples of some of the finest work from the school.

Richard Ritter, a celebrated glass artist, in this exhibition reveals his complex “murrini” process; a technically intensive development of complex patterns and decorations. Murrinis first reached a high level of sophistication in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and are still seen in the millefiori glass of Italy today.

Mark Peiser, also a glass artist, reinterprets the 1934 world event: the historic 20-ton glass casting of the 200-inch Hale Telescope mirror. In a second casting, this largest single piece of glass ever made is now a component of the Palomar Observatory in California. Peiser’s contemporary glass sculptures quote the scale and honeycomb pattern of the legendary mirror; an advancement leading astronomers to the first direct evidence of stars in distant galaxies.

Craft is rooted in the fundamental human impulse to use mind and hands to transform basic materials into objects of beauty and utility and is reflected in the exhibition, Penland School of Crafts: Evolution and Imagination. Beginning in 1920 with the work of Lucy Morgan, one woman of great vision, Penland began as an educational experiment which continues today. This exhibition explores Penland then and now, featuring examples of some of the finest work in glass, ceramic, textiles, jewelry and other mediums in two- and three-dimension.

The Cameron Art Museum presents 6-8 changing exhibitions annually; ongoing family and children’s programs; a unique program of tours for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers; The Museum School classes for adult and youth education; interdisciplinary programs (lectures, music, films, literature, dance); Healthy Living Classes and ongoing workshops and classes in ceramics at the Clay Studio with resident master artist Hiroshi Sueyoshi.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at 910/395-5999 or visit (www.cameronartmuseum.com).

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