WILSON, N.C. — March 1, 2017 — Barton College’s Susan Fecho received the highest recognition in the 2017 Handcrafted Exhibition, a nationally juried show currently on view at the Maria V. Howard Arts Center in the Imperial Centre in Rocky Mount. Professor of art and dean of the School of Visual, Performing, and Communications Arts at Barton, Fecho was recognized with the coveted “best in show” Acquisition Award for her work titled “Dogwood Shirt,” which will become part of the Arts Center’s Permanent Collection.
Also hailing from Barton College, associate professor of art Mark Gordon was recognized with the Honorable Mention Award for his entry “Bowls of Mixed Geometries.”
Both Barton professors have entered the juried exhibition several times in recent years, and Fecho earned 1st place honors last year, just below the Acquisition Award.
“Works represented in the 2017 Handcrafted Exhibition include clay, glass, fiber, wood, metal, found objects, and mixed mediums,” explained Alicyn Wiedrich, curator for the Imperial Centre of Rocky Mount. “The Handcrafted Exhibition is always my favorite juried art show that we host here at the Maria V. Howard Arts Center because submissions are so different, experimental, and exemplify a mastery of craft.”
“Susan Fecho and Mark Gordon were both selected to be part of the Handcrafted Exhibition this year,” Wiedrich continued. “Their works represent just how diverse the works of art can be in this show.”
Award-winning artist and professor at the School of Art and Design at East Carolina University, Mi-Sook Hur, served as juror of the exhibition. Discussing Fecho’s winning work, she noted, “‘Dogwood Shirt,’ creates richness in poetic expressions. The elaborately printed shirt retains the elements from nature using a very subtle color palette.” Hur went on to describe Gordon’s commended ceramic vessel as an artwork that “…shows an innovative approach to the medium. It is fully engaged where the inside becomes outside and the outside becomes inside.”
Fecho and Gordon’s entries are among the 38 works of art in the “Handcrafted” exhibition that represents 35 artists from across the country. The exhibition will be on view until May 14.
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