More than 100 works by 50 accomplished and up-and-coming Western New York artists, many of them Buffalo State College faculty members, alumni, or students, will be showcased at the 11th biennial exhibition Art in Craft Media 2009 (formerly Craft Art Western New York), on view from September 12 through January 3.

The juried and invitational exhibition is presented by the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College and supported by the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment. An opening reception takes place on September 12 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Art in Craft Media is the only regional craft art showcase in Western New York, attracting work by the region’s leading artists in clay, wood, fiber, metal, and glass. The region is defined as the nine counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming.

About 115 Western New York artists submitted recent works for consideration for the much-anticipated 2009 show. Juror Margaret Carney, Ph.D., made the final selection from about 400 submissions (each artist could submit up to four works). The event includes artists whose work has appeared in more than four previous Craft Art Western New York exhibitions. Most of the artists in this preeminent group of 18 have some affiliation with Buffalo State College, including five faculty members: Nancy Belfer, Stephen Saracino, Carol Townsend, Robert L. Wood, and Barry Yavener.  For the exhibition, works by two faculty members--Jozef Bajus and Tara Nahabetian--were selected, bringing Buffalo State's honors to a group of 20.

“The scope and scale of work speaks to the artistic potential and growing legacy of craft art in this region and across the country,” said Carney, who is a renowned ceramics historian and curator of the Blair Museum of Lithophanes in Toledo, Ohio. “The category has come into its own thanks to the talent and perseverance of artists and the enlightened support of people like Sylvia Rosen and institutions like Buffalo State College and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.”

In addition to Bajus and Nahabetian, artists selected for the exhibition are Lily Booth, Missy Crowell, Patrick Del Monte, Kate Doody, Alicia Eggert, Jihea Eum, Irwin Franco, Suzanne Hofmeister, Kevin Kegler, Bethany Krull, Temi Kucinski, Andrea Marquis, Dennis Nahabetian, Jane Notides-Benzing, Vincent Pontillo, Diane Pierce, Mattine Rattonsey, Davina Romansky, Taeyoul Ryu, Leslie Schug, Kala Stein, James Vasi, Alan Walke, and Kristin Wiepert. The project director for the exhibition is Scott Propeack, collections manager at the Burchfield Penney.

Sylvia L. Rosen, the patron of the exhibition, is a noted ceramicist whose work is in the Burchfield Penney and in the permanent collections of the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art at Alfred University. Her generous sponsorship of craft art and artists in New York State, Florida, and Ohio is highly respected. She is an alumna of Buffalo State College and has taught at the college, the University at Buffalo, and Amherst Senior High School.

“We are delighted to have this year’s exhibition in the new Burchfield Penney Art Center,” Rosen said. “This remarkable space provides a perfect backdrop for celebrating these artists and their remarkable work.”

The Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment for the Fine Arts in the Craft Media, established by Sylvia and her husband, Nathan, in 1987, supports juried biennial craft art exhibitions with illustrated catalogs and purchase awards, alternating with biennial craft art lectures by specialists.

(Image: Stephen Saracino, Professor of Design; War Trophy: Nation Building 3rd. Place. Bracelet. Sterling Silver, 9”x 7”x 4”. 2009)