Makers & Mentors 2011 features Wendell Castle, Nancy Jurs, Tom Lacagnina, and Bethany Krull.
RoCo's Makers & Mentors exhibition series highlights the importance of art education in the Western/Central New York Region and celebrates the artwork and influence of the region’s most accomplished artists. The exhibition series includes Mid/Late career artists exhibiting alongside their former students, many of whom are now educators themselves.
About the Artists
Wendell Castle is an internationally renowned artist and designer, and is considered the father of contemporary “Art Furniture.” Castle’s works are included in the permanent collections of numerous museums including The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, and The Museum of Art and Design. The winner of many prestigious awards, Castle is an educator and arist-in-residence at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Crafts.
Nancy Jurs is a ceramic artist and a graduate of RIT. She has taught at the State University of New York at Brockport, Columbia University, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she has been an important mentor to several young clay artists. Her sculpture work and public installations have been featured both locally and nationally, and are in multiple collections including the Smithsonian, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
Tom Lacagnina is a wood and mixed-media sculptor who has influenced many artists in the region. Lacagnina received his BFA and MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he studied with Wendell Castle, then went on to teach at Alfred University's School of Art Design for 29 years. He has lectured at universities across the US, and is a Professor Emeritus at Alfred University.
Bethany Krull’s clay works explore the complex interactions between humans and animals. Makers & Mentors features several works from her newest series, Dominance and Affection. Her work has been featured in over 50 exhibitions throughout the US, and is in the collections of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Krull is a ceramics instructor at Goggleworks Center for the Arts in Reading, Pennsylvania.
