Wayne Art Center: Contemporary Craft and International Glass Exhibits

RADNOR, PA — During the holiday season, you may be looking for a special activity to do with out-of-town guests and friends.

You do not have to go to Philadelphia, New York or Washington to feast on the latest creations of the most talented artists of today.

The most up-to-date art collections are displayed at The Wayne Art Center in Radnor Township on the Main Line.

The center features two new exhibits, CraftForms 2022 and The International Year of Glass, consisting of art created from 91 artists in 29 states, Canada and Taiwan.

“Several pieces reflect the unique times in which we live,” Nancy Campbell, executive director, said this week when preparing for the opening of the exhibits.

“They are presented in a spirit of hope, humor and the comforting knowledge of what has been crafted here records our era in memories that cannot always be fashioned in words.”

Both the 27th International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Fine Craft and Beyond Glass exhibits are open to the public from Saturday, Dec. 3 to Saturday, Jan. 21.

Campbell said the work presents a glorious response to the urge to create something striking, elegant or whimsical.

“Inspiration taken from nature is a strong theme for much of the work,” Campbell said.

The exhibits feature art that is nothing like what you’ve seen before in museums, such as pop art, abstract expressionism, impressionism, or classic painting.

Each piece is unique.

Campbell and Pam McLean-Parker, exhibit and program coordinator, were working on the finishing touches of the exhibits, which took months of planning with artists.

Planning the exhibit

Planning the exhibit begins with selecting a juror to review all the artwork from the artists interested in displaying work. The work was submitted online in March.
The juror, Jeannine Falino, a former curator of art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, then reviewed the artists’ work from photographs.
“As a juror for the 2022 exhibition, it was a pleasant challenge to choose the very best work from a strong and indeed very large field of talented artists,” said Falino, who teaches at the Parson School of Design in New York.
“We have 90 artists, each with a different story to tell,” Campbell said. “It’s a high quality exhibit in the suburbs.”
The art is for sale, ranging from $250 to $38,000. The center will also award $10,000 in prizes at a preview party on Friday night.

The center features lectures from 1 to 4 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 3, from Falino and Josephine Shea, a manager of Art Bridges at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Beyond Glass

The Beyond Glass exhibit showcases work by artists who combine glass with other mediums such as metal and wood.
The exhibit shows how the history of glass migrated from factories into the artist’s studio in the 1960s.

The artists include:

• Jack Larimore of Philadelphia: wood showing inner circles of a tree’s past.
• Judy Jensen of Austin, Texas: painting on glass to show a circus scene.
• Gregory Nagle of Philadelphia: Scissors Cut, bronze frames that become glass-topped tables to wall pieces with mirrored glass.

The museum is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.