Saturday, May 5 to Sunday, May 6
Touchstone celebrates its Fourth Annual Jim Campbell Hammer-In. This yearly celebration of all things blacksmithing honors the enduring legacy of longtime volunteer and friend to Touchstone, Jim Campbell. Join us in the Hart Moore Blacksmith Studio for demonstrations in the art and craft of working hot steel. To add a bit of excitement to this year's event, Touchstone's Blacksmith Studio Manager Richard Sheppard is donating one of his handcrafted treadle hammers to be raffled off Sunday afternoon as the festivities wind down.
For 2012 Touchstone has invited experienced farriers and blacksmiths, Richard Becker and Bob Parks to demonstrate. Both represent over 65 years of experience at the forge, and are highly accomplished in the field. Programming for the weekend will also include artist lectures, music, food, tool vendors and good old blacksmithing camaraderie. Please visit www.touchstonecrafts.org to register for the event. Register before April 30 (extended) for a discount on registrations. Just enter JimCampbell as the online registration code when registering at www.touchstonecrafts.org. Registration at the door is $70 and includes daily programming and meals (Saturday breakfast to Sunday Lunch). Accommodations onsite can be purchased separately during the online registration process. Additional offsite accommodations are listed on the website under "Lodging." Click on the event title to sign up.
Reception for Gerald Wagner: Works in Clay in the Iron Gate Gallery
Saturday, May 12, 4 to 9 p.m. in The Iron Gate Gallery
Exhibition open to the public April 23 to June 15
Gerald Wagner received his Master's of Fine Art in ceramics from Edinboro University in 1982. Since then he has developed a signature aesthetic that channels the geometric precision of form reminiscent of the Art Deco movement. While Jerry has strong roots in this early modern style, his usage of color and glazes makes his final ceramic objects distinctive and contemporary. Jerry is also renowned in the national ceramics community through his technical proficiency, and he also is highly respected for his understanding of kiln technologies as a master kiln builder. It’s this thoroughly comprehensive knowledge of the entire ceramics experience which makes Jerry’s stunning ceramic vessels so finely resolved in form and function.
An Evening with Sean Jones
Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 6 to 9 p.m.
Join us in Pittsburgh at Il Pizzaiolo from 6 to 9 p.m. for a spring evening of great food and jazz, featuring the music of jazz dynamo Sean Jones. Sean is the former Lead Trumpeter of Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, a position that he held for more than half a decade. This prolific and insightful artist is now pursuing his own musical journey, and has generously offered his talent to Touchstone’s benefit. To make the event even more special, restaurateur Ron Molinaro is contributing the critically acclaimed Neapolitan cuisine and rustic atmosphere of Il Pizzaiolo to the benefit as well. Guests should come prepared to experience an evening of culinary and musical art harmony. All proceeds go to Touchstone’s various scholarship funds, which make the craft school’s dynamic artistic and educational workshops more accessible for many students in these challenging economic times. Ticket prices are $85 per person and include food, wine and the Sean Jones performance. For $185 per person, attendees get special access to a VIP reception with Sean, in Il Pizzaiolo’s intimate private lounge. Click on the event title to sign up.
Reception for Uniontown Art Club Juried Show
Saturday, May 19, 4 pm to 9 pm in The Bea Campbell Gallery
Exhibition is open to the public May 19 – June 27
Featuring artists from Southwestern Pennsylvania, Northern West Virginia and Western Maryland, this special exhibition will be open to the public from May 19 though June 3. Since 1927, the Uniontown Art Club has remained an active supporter of the visual arts in Fayette County. Touchstone is proud to partner with the club for a third consecutive year in the exhibition of artwork by local and regional artists and artisans.
Think Tank Symposium
Thursday, June 7, 2012 to Sunday, June 10, 2012
The Think Tank Symposium is a collaborative effort spearheaded by Brigitte Martin, founder and editor of crafthaus. Co-organizers of the three-day symposium include Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington, PA, and the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, PA.
The goal of the symposium is to identify and discuss creative solutions to some of the critical challenges currently facing the craft world. Leaders of various craft organizations, makers and creative thinkers in the field will convene on Touchstone's campus to start a dialogue about future collaborative efforts and about how to address questions and issues that affect everyone.
Programming also includes a day-trip to The Society for Contemporary Craft and the Pittsburgh Glass Center where the group will continue their discussions and experience the engaging programming these two world-class organizations offer the general community and regional craft practitioners. This event is by invitation only.
40th Anniversary Celebration
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Touchstone Center for Crafts invites you to a celebration of four decades of artistic and educational excellence and the launch of four decades more. Please join us for an evening of high craft in food, music, and visual art. Please join us for the festivities as we mark this milestone for one of southwestern Pennsylvania’s most significant artistic, cultural, and educational assets: the magic of Touchstone. The event will take place in conjunction with Touchstone's first Summer Evening Arts event. It will include an opening reception in the Bea Campbell Gallery Store featuring Reclamation: The Artwork of Robert Villamanga, Zakaria Tefft, and Meghan McCaffery and an opening reception in the Iron Gate Gallery featuring Interpretations of Nature in Ink and Iron by Gudrun Garkisch and Bob Rupert. At 6:00 pm guest will transition to the dining for Dinner and music in the new dining hall featuring Chef Roger Clatterbuck and his talented team at War Eagle Rations accompanied by classical music from a quartet comprised of students from Duquesne University and musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Click on the event title to sign up. Minimum donation is 40 dollars.
Summer Evening Arts 1
Saturday, June 30, 4 pm to 9 pm
Reclamation: The Artwork of Robert Villamanga, Zakaria Tefft and Meghan McCaffery
The Bea Campbell Gallery
Exhibition is open to the public June 18 – July 27
These three artists view the leftovers of our material culture not as waste, but as artistic opportunity. Robert creates painterly works and composition with discarded metal boxes. The bright and often campy commercial patterns on the metal give the “tin paintings” a playful irreverence. Zak and Meg are an artist team that upcycle antiqued home and furniture remnants into functional art.
Interpretations of Nature in Ink and Iron by Gudrun Garkisch and Bob Rupert
The Iron Gate Gallery
Exhibition is open to the public June 30 – August 8
Gudrun and Bob are longtime instructors who have a deep and rich history with Touchstone, and their many seasons of teaching on the school’s beautiful acreage have inspired their work in interesting ways. Please join us to explore and celebrate the many ways these two skilled and expressive artists interpret the small wonders of the natural world in their respective media, ink and iron.
Summer Evening Arts 2
Saturday, August 18, 4 pm to 9 pm
Exhibition for Touchstone’s Artist of the Year, Joe Sendek
The Bea Campbell Gallery and the Great Room of Blaney Lodge
Exhibition is open to the public August 6 – October
This exhibition and reception honors Joe Sendek’s contribution to the art of ceramics and glass. Joe walks the edge where art meets education. Trained in materials engineering at Purdue, he also holds a BA from California State and an MFA from Arizona State. Joe currently works as an artist-educator for kindergarteners to senior citizens. He has done artist-in-residency work and has taught at all levels. He is a registered artist with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and his work is exhibited nationally.
Remnants: The Artwork of Dan Kuhn and Chris McGinnis
The Iron Gate Gallery
Exhibition is open to the public August 13 – September 28
Dan and Chris are two rapidly emerging artists based in southwestern Pennsylvania. Dan is a ceramicist with an MFA from Edinboro University who works boldly and adroitly in both sculptural and functional ceramics. Chris is a versatile and talented painter and printmaker whose skilled draftsmanship is matched by his fearless incorporation of mixed media
materials into his semi-representational images. These artists were selected for Remnants because their artwork investigates the ambiguous role of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s industrial histories.
Annual Fall Benefit
Saturday, October 6, 2 pm to 6 pm
Touchstone is hosting its annual fall benefit and celebrating its 40th year. The afternoon of art, music and food will feature the work of dozens of regional and national artists. Art lovers will find myriad original artworks for bid during the event’s live and silent auctions. Hors d’oeuvres and complimentary wine and beer will be served. Tickets are $75 per person; reserve yours by visiting www.touchstonecrafts.org or by calling 1.800.721.0177.
Annual Membership Meeting
Saturday, November 3, 1 pm to 3 pm
Current members are invited to the annual membership meeting where we will review the year’s accomplishments, elect board members and plan for 2013.
Thursday Evening Auctions
June through August
It’s become a tradition on the Touchstone campus to hold an auction every Thursday evening, from June through August, in our dining hall. New items are offered each week made by that week’s students and instructors. Everyone has a chance to bid, and all proceeds go to supporting Touchstone’s operations and core programming.
