Past

Solo Exhibition

“I have no answer as to why I make this art. In the late 1970’s, on an inexplicable impulse, I began cutting up and reassembling some books from my childhood. I had just left The Paul Taylor Dance Company and was at loose ends. Those early experiments  with paper were compelling to me. And I have yet to grow tired of exploring ways to cut and assemble images of all sorts. It was in the mid 1980’s that I began working almost exclusively with antique printed matter and developed a fascination with the beautiful material available from The Gilded Age to Art Deco.

I work with archival boards, acid-free glues and surgical knives. Only recently have I begun focusing on period and vintage frames which, for me, take my work to a place of final completeness.

My love of modern dance is the greatest influence on how I approach paper montage. I like to say, “The page is the stage and the paper dances.” As in choreography, I begin with one “movement” (one cut) as a leap of faith and see where it guides me next. And, as it was when I built dances, I’m never certain where I’ll be led.”

EH² is an exhibition to showcase Erika Hewston and Emily Haag, the new Gallery Director and Gallery Assistant.

Erika Hewston is a textile artist from Reading, Pennsylvania who focuses in weaving.  She creates richly colored textural wall hangings as well as fine woven wearable scarves and ties:

“I work primarily as a handweaver making both fine woven wearables and texturally saturated wall pieces.  All of my work focuses on the interaction of vibrant colors to create striking statement pieces.  My scarves and ties are all comprised of cotton, bamboo rayon, and tencel to ensure a soft product with beautiful drape.  My wall pieces are a mixture of any fibrous materials I can gather within the desired color range: cotton, fleece, felt, twine, tule, acrylic, burlap, and others.  This vast array of materials allows me to create pieces that are immersed in texture creating both a visual and tactile exploration for the viewer.”

Emily Haag is a contemporary abstract expressionist from Sparta, New Jersey with a focus in painting and printmaking. Her works center around the physicality of the material (mixing sand with her paint) and how it plays with light and shadow.

“I begin each work impulsively and spontaneously. Mixing the sand into acrylic has become as much a part of the art as the piece itself; the composition comes 2nd to the process of manipulating the materials. Sand is a very provocative material, soft and inviting, while simultaneously abrasive and irritating. It often evokes enjoyable memories and experiences of family vacations to the beach, and the rhythmic motion of the crashing waves gives a sense of comfort and familiarity. Jacques Benveniste theorized that water holds memory. Now a widespread cliché made known through the popular Disney film, the theory still rings true to my process. Memory is very important to my work, and can often be blurred or distorted by time. While the oceanic water has yet to hold a physical presence in my works, sand is its placeholder.

Opening Reception delayed to March 26th 3-5 PM due to inclement weather.

The 10^th Annual Student Exhibition will feature works from Newton High School, Wallkill High School, Fort Lee High School, Watchung Hills Regional High School, High Point Regional High School, Delaware Valley High School, and Roxbury High School.

Work ranges from ceramics, painting, photography, collage, textiles, jewelry, to mixed media sculptures providing a well rounded display for viewers.  As an educational center, it is Peters Valley’s mission to cultivate the next generation of fine craft artists and supporters. By hosting this exhibition we are encouraging young artists to not only make, but share their work with the world in a professional gallery setting.

The sampling of work included in this show is representative of the creative power of our local youth.

Award Winners

Best in Show & Winner of a Huber-Weyer full-tuition workshop scholarship: Anthony Lubrano – Concentric
2nd Place: Madelyn McCurdy – Eden
3rd Place: Brianna Dunn – Deucalion and the Flood
Honorable Mention: Clara Chen – Trypophobia
Honorable Mention: Elysha Magat – Blue Dove

Articles:
Advertiser-News North
New Jersey Herald
Sparta Independent
NJ Monthly
Yahoo News
Morristown Green
Morristown Green Calendar
NJ Herald (Winners Annouced)

Printed Articles:
Sparta Independent – February 24-March 2, 2022 – Page 14

Featuring Handmade work by more than one hundred local and national crafts people. Selections include decorative and functional pottery, jewelry, glass, wood, wearable fiber arts, photography, toys, books, and more.

Ends January 31st, 2022

Purchase the Catalog to learn more about each artist and their experiences with Peters Valley.

Making Matters: Fresh Perspectives in Fine Craft is an annual exhibition showcasing the work of the season’s visiting artist instructors and summer artistic staff. The variety of media, styles and techniques included reflect the diversity in the programming offered at Peters Valley.

Participating artists include:

Jeanne Brady, Jane Brennan, Ken Burton, Steve Cook, Janis Cutler-Gear, Bruce Dehnert, Cynthia Fisher, Donald Friedlich, Mollykate Geddis, Joe Guerriero, Kate Hawes, Jamie Herman, Caryn L. Hetherston, Talya Kantro, Ellen Kaspern, Kulvinder Kaur Dhew, Grace Kerr, Anna Koplik, Jay Kreimer, Daryl Lancaster, Madeline Maier, Tianna McGregor, Kat Nash, Matt Nolen, Sophia Park, Czashka Ross, Mollie Schaidt, Maggie Seinfeld, Wyatt Severs, Celia Shaheen, Natalie Stopka, Elizabeth Tokoly, Shawn Vales, Wendy Weiss, Lisa Westheimer, Kimberly Winkle, Rick Wright

Virtually tour the installed exhibition and hear from a number of participating artists:

Peters Valley School of Craft is pleased to announce its 2021 High School Student Exhibition, this year online only from April 11 – May 9. The show includes work by students in grade 9-12.

The exhibition features two- and three-dimensional artwork by students from participating schools in the area. It will include ceramics, drawing, painting, jewelry, sculpture, photography, and other mixed media. We are excited that 2021 marks the 11^th year of this annual event. This focus on showcasing the types of media represented at the school, and its national online audience, make Peters Valley’s exhibition unique among the many shows these schools participate in.

The exhibition includes work by students from Blair Academy, Byram Hills, Delaware Valley, High Point Regional, Kittatinny Regional, Montville, Randolph, Sparta, and Wallkill Valley Regional.

Award Winners

Best in Show, winner of a Huber-Weyer full-tuition workshop scholarship: Kaitlyn Czifra “Reckoning”
Second Place: Sophia Papadopoulo “My Imperfect Cracks”
Third Place: Kevin Dau “Chasing the Dream”
Honorable Mention: Cameron Minetti “Infinity”

From the Ground Up: Peters Valley School of Craft is the first major exhibition to trace the remarkable fifty-year history of this New Jersey craft school.

Founded in 1970, Peters Valley was the result of an experimental idea: a planned craft community set in the natural beauty of a newly-formed national park, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Resident artists in ceramics, wood, fiber, photography, blacksmithing, and fine metals have shaped the vital spirit of Peters Valley. Craft education has also anchored Peters Valley’s mission, making the school’s immersive materials-based courses a vibrant meeting ground for exchange.

Installed in the galleries of the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ through January 10, 2021, the exhibition features historical and contemporary work and artist residencies. The show illuminates key moments in Peter Valley’s formation and illustrates its crucial impact on art and artists over the last five decades.

Artist residencies during the exhibition will include weaver Cynthia Alberto and her Brooklyn-based weaving studio Weaving Hand, jeweler Lauren Eckert and woodworker Janine Wang.

In conjunction with this exhibition, the Hunterdon Art Museum is offering three free virtual artist lectures featuring each of the resident artists who will be in the 1st floor galleries October – December. Each artist has a connection with Peters Valley and will be sharing how the institution has shaped their careers, as well as describe their artistic process and current and upcoming projects. This program is free to attend but pre-registration is required to receive the link. See below for dates.

Cynthia Alberto, weaver and founder of Weaving Hand
Saturday, October 24, 11am ET
Register here:
https://hunterdonartmuseum.org/portfolio-items/resident-artist-lecture-cynthia-alberto-online/?portfolioCats=405%2C406%2C407%2C408%2C409%2C410%2C411%2C412%2C413

Lauren Eckert, multimedia object maker and illustrator
Sunday, November 29, 2pm ET
Register here:
https://hunterdonartmuseum.org/portfolio-items/resident-artist-lecture-lauren-eckert-online/?portfolioCats=405%2C406%2C407%2C408%2C409%2C410%2C411%2C412%2C413

Janine Wang, furniture maker
Sunday, December 6 11am ET
Register here:
https://hunterdonartmuseum.org/portfolio-items/artist-in-residence-lecture-janine-wang-online/?portfolioCats=405%2C406%2C407%2C408%2C409%2C410%2C411%2C412%2C413

Virtual Opening Reception

Making Matters: Fresh Perspectives in Fine Craft is an annual exhibition showcasing the work of the season’s visiting artist instructors and summer artistic staff. The variety of media, styles and techniques included reflect the diversity in the programming offered at Peters Valley. This year it features the work of artists who would have taught at Peters Valley had we been able to conduct our summer workshops.

The Virtual Artist Reception, watch it below to learn more about what’s behind the work of many of the exhibition artists.

Also check out this Panel Discussion from September comprised of 4 participating artist instructors: Jesse Bert (fine metals), Steve Cook (ceramics), Wendy Weiss (fiber), and Laurie Klein (photography) in conversation with our Studio Managers Bruce Dehnert and Beth Glauber. They discussed the preparation and experience of teaching a workshop at a craft school and the impact of immersive learning. 

This exhibition and accompanying catalog are made possible in part by the Windgate Foundation.

Introduction

“Peters Valley: Present reacts to the last two decades of ceramic programming designed by Peters Valley Ceramics Head and artist, Bruce Dehnert. Inspired by the school’s summer-course offerings and catalogs that share many approaches to the medium, this exhibition appreciates a myriad of ceramic-making methods. 29 artists who have instructed at the craft school in the past two decades are in assembly, displaying a survey of work across clay bodies, firing techniques, surface treatments, and concepts.

This exhibition was to be held in Richmond, Virginia concurrent with the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference, an event where many ceramists convene away from home. To keep all safe during the first approaches of this pandemic, the NCECA conference was cancelled and the exhibition was postponed.

Originally, the choice of the exhibition title, Peters Valley: Present felt clever; what with its association to place, time, one’s response to an attendance rollcall, and even the feeling of being engrossed when in the ceramic studio. Now, the show convenes in a different way- not in a physical space but in a digital one. And, despite the associations that one may glean from working with such a tactile, traditional, or hands-on material, many of us ceramists find ourselves meeting and interacting with each other in new digital modes. Like so, the online adaption of Peters Valley: Present has leant new opportunities and meaning to this exhibition. It has invited more folks to interact with the show- much more than what was possible for the original three-day exhibition.

While we look forward to seeing one another again, in-person and on campus; this time has also offered a feeling that being present is not just about the physical presence. Instead, being socially apart can be a compassionate and communal act, offering us new ways to stay connected until the future.”

-Carolyn E Herrera-Perez

Incubation: Artists in Pursuit of Discovery showcases the work of a selection of our studio assistants from over the last ten years. Peters Valley Summer Assistants are an integral part of our summer workshop program and we’ve seen how, at times, the studio experience is like an incubation experience. This show will focus on where they are now, and the new directions they’ve taken since leaving Peters Valley.