Author: Penland

Posted on by

Over $500,000 raised at the Penland Benefit Auction!

200 astonishing works found new homes and inspired bidding wars

We wore pearls to honor Outstanding Artist Educator Elizabeth Brim, learned the surprising secret to Lucy Morgan Award recipient Julia Woodman’s success, funded climate control while fanning ourselves, and, as our Director Mia Hall so movingly put it, celebrated “our collective awe at what we humans can make with our hands.”

We spent the weekend basking in the presence of friends, new and old, breathtaking examples of contemporary craft, and our favorite views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and The Penland Knoll.

We enjoyed artist demonstrations, silent auctions, gallery talks, a Core Fellows popup, a lively cocktail party, coffee at The Barns with the Penland Resident Artists, and a much anticipated live auction under the tent.

See all the photos HERE!

Auction guests selected unique mugs while enjoying breakfast at The Barns with the Penland Resident Artists. 2023 mug‒maker Cat Coulter Lloyd is seen here (left) with Harriet Green (right)

We raised $502,191!

Auctioneer Jesse Miller is always a crowd favorite! Volunteer “Vanna” Jennifer Rankin shows off a special vase that was pinch-formed by the late Paulus Berensohn and decorated by Jenny Mendes.

More than 200 inspiring works of art, donated by generous invited artists with Penland connections, found new homes as we harnessed our revelry to raise sustaining funds that will support Penland’s programs.

Together we raised $502,191 to further our mission of making lives meaningful through making. Thank you to all of the donating artists, collectors, and donors!

This year’s “Fund a Need” invited guests to directly support climate control upgrades to Penland’s campus. Attendees were sympathetic to the need in the face of unseasonably warm temperatures. We are excited to report that we surpassed our goal of $100,000, raising $108,700 for HVAc upgrades that will help preserve aging buildings and provide greater comfort for our students and instructors.

Fans were a theme of the weekend as we raised $108,700 for HVAC upgrades that will help preserve aging buildings and provide greater comfort for our students and instructors. Auction captain Corey Pemberton helped us get excited about climate control!

Special Honors

Featured artists Tanya Crane (right) and Dan Estabrook (left)

At the 38th Annual Penland Benefit Auction, it was our great honor to celebrate the contributions of featured artists Tanya Crane and Dan Estabrook. To mark the occasion, thoughtful short films about Tanya and Dan were commissioned and screened at the event (Click their names to view).

Julia Woodman, pictured here with her piece “Computer Aided Pine Cone” was the first recipient of the Lucy Morgan Award.

Receiving the first ever Lucy Morgan Award in honor of her special relationship with Penland, Julia Woodman was presented with a lovely necklace, crafted for the occasion by longtime friend Merrick Earle who took a Penland workshop with Julia. Upon receiving her award, Julia, who has taken 26 Penland workshops, remarked, “I can’t believe I’m being honored for having fun.” Julia spoke movingly of her trepidation about going back to school after raising her family and shared an intimate detail about her life: for the past forty years, a group of monks has been praying for her five times a day. Read more about Julia’s extraordinary journey HERE.

Lucy Morgan Award necklace by Merrick Earle

Honored as this year’s Outstanding Artist Educator, Elizabeth Brim spent the weekend surrounded by some of the many blacksmiths that she has inspired, mentored, and learned from over the years. Many took the opportunity to wear pearls in honor of Elizabeth’s habit of always wearing pearls at the forge. At the main event, tables under the tent were adorned with custom centerpieces, created by 20 of Elizabeth’s friends. At a special price of $395, these “cynosures” helped kick off the live auction with a race to claim them, raising over $15,000 for Penland.

Guests rushed to acquire the steel centerpieces, created in honor of Outstanding Artist Educator Elizabeth Brim. These steel pearls were created by Susan Owen (right) and Charles Coffey. Beth Kokol (left) was excited to acquire this special piece!

Contributing cynosure artists:
Vivian Beer, Autumn Brown, James D. W. Cooper, Maegan E. Crowley, Andy Dohner, Seth Gould, Warren Holzman, Marvin Jensen, Rachel Kedinger, Dave MacDonald, Marc Maiorana, Zack Noble, Susan Owen and Charles Coffee, Suzanne Pugh, John J Rais, Mike Rossi, James Viste, Haley Woodward, and Stephen Yusko.

A special event honoring Elizabeth was held at the Northlight mezzanine as friends and peers gathered around to share stories and let Elizabeth know what she has meant to the Penland, craft, and blacksmithing communities. Under the main tent, just before the live auction, Elizabeth addressed the crowd. Overcome with emotion, she spoke about her journey to independence through blacksmithing and how her father “relaxed a little” when she bought herself a used pickup truck “with money I made from selling my first pair of high heeled shoes and an apron sculpture.” Addressing the crowd of friends, Elizabeth said,

I’ve always said I needed to be very good to deserve all of the opportunities I have been given. To stand here receiving this award as somebody who encouraged, influenced and taught people to be the best they can be is an immense honor and validation. I am extremely grateful to the Penland School of Craft and to all of you for supporting this wonderful place.

We are grateful to have friends like Tanya, Dan, Julia, and Elizabeth working to make Penland a special place for us all.

Standing room only for Elizabeth Brim!

Elizabeth Brim together with many of the artists who contributed custom steel centerpieces in her honor. 

Thank You!

Our hearts are full! Thank you to everyone who made the 38th Annual Penland Benefit Auction a great success. Thank you to our patrons, contributing artists, sponsors, volunteers, summer interns and staff. Our annual auction is a labor of love, from the creation of unique artwork to that special weekend when we gather to celebrate craft, Penland, and each other. Thank you!

Summer intern Mindy helped make the 38th Annual Benefit Auction a great success. Thank you to development interns Mindy Yi, Ethan Helow, and Astrid Guerrero!

Wonderful volunteers make the Penland Benefit Auction possible (and fun)!

2023 Contributing Artists

View the 38th Annual Penland Benefit Auction Catalog HERE.

Contributing artists: Cathy Adelman, Stanley Mace Andersen, Eleanor Anderson, Kurt Anderson, Sarina Angell, Eleanor Annand, Adam Atkinson, Dan Bailey, Phillip Baldwin, Boris Bally, Kenneth Baskin, Cat Bates, Rick Beck, Vivian Beer, Paulus Berensohn, 1933-2017, Alex Bernstein, Lisa Blackburn, Cynthia Bringle, Edwina Bringle, Autumn Brown, Ashley Buchanan, Jennifer Bueno, Thor and Jennifer Bueno, Jay Burnham-Kidwell, Stormie Burns, Critz Campbell, Ken Carder, Jason Chakravarty, Pattie Chalmers, Rebecca Chamlee, Daniel G. Clayman, David Harper Clemons, Martha Clippinger, Ann Coddington, Margaret Couch Cogswell, Kat Cole, Andrèa Keys Connell, James D. W. Cooper, Béatrice Coron, Nate Cotterman, Tanya Crane, Maegan E. Crowley, Marianne Dages, Naomi Dalglish and Michael Hunt; Bandana Pottery, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Paige Hamilton Davis, Nick DeFord, Dail Dixon, Andy Dohner, Sondra Dorn, Ben Dory, Caroline Douglas, Beth Dow, Lynn Duryea, David Eichelberger, Rostislav Eismont, Catharine Ellis, Sanam Emami, Melissa Engler, Daniel Essig, Vicki Essig, Dan Estabrook, Annie Evelyn, Lauren Faulkenberry, Susan Feagin, Shane Fero, Alida Fish, Susie Ganch, Rachel K. Garceau, Daniel Garver, Greg Gehner, Terry Gess, Joanna Gollberg, Seth Gould, Carmen Grier, Bill Griffith, Hoss Haley, Mia Hall, Frank Hamrick, Douglas Harling, Abie Harris, Julia Harrison, LUKE Haynes, James Henkel, Adriane Herman, Mark Hewitt, Leigh Anne Hilbert, Overlap Sewing Studio, Morgan Hill, Everett Hoffman, Warren Holzman, Tom Huang, Mi-Sook Hur, Maggie Jaszczak, Tom Jaszczak, Mercedes Jelinek, Marvin Jensen, Nicholas Joerling, Anna Johnson, David Jones, Frederick Gladding Kahl, Erin Keane, Rachel Kedinger, Alicia D Keshishian, Kathy King, Jeana Eve Klein, Julie Leonard, Maia Leppo, Suze Lindsay, Janet Link, Tara Locklear, Dave MacDonald, Warren Mackenzie, 1924-2019, Edna Madera, Marc Maiorana, James Malenda, Jeannine Marchand, Richard Margolis, Lauren Markley, Courtney Martin, Lydia Martin, E. Vincent Martinez, Sharon Massey, Tim McCreight, Barbara McFadyen, Laura Jean McLaughlin, Jenny Mendes, Forrest Middelton, Cedric Mitchell, Jim Moran, Morgan, Zack Noble, Maria Fernanda Nuñez Alzate, Libby O’Bryan and Giovanni Daina Palermo (Rite of Passage), Sean O’Connell, Marsha Owen, Susan Owen and Charles Coffey, Winnie Owens-Hart, Kristina Paabus, Keun Ho Peter Park, Kit Paulson, Lisa Pedolsky, Anne Petters, Kenny Pieper, Andrew Polk, Kathryn Polk, Dan Price, Graeme Priddle, IlaSahai Prouty, Suzanne Pugh, Amy Putansu, John J Rais, Billy Renkl, Ché Rhodes, Ellie Richards, Sang Parkinson Roberson, Linda Foard Roberts, Holly Roberts, Emily Rogstad, Sylvie Rosenthal, Mike Rossi, Andy Rubin, Kari Russell-Pool, Alyssa Salomon, Blue Skies Workroom, Yolanda Sánchez, Wyatt Severs, Hitomi Shibata, Takuro Shibata, Lars Shimabukuro, Gertrude Graham Smith, Tremain Smith, Kevin Snipes, Liz Sparks, Leigh Suggs, Lynn Sures, Tim Tate, Amy Tavern, Janet Taylor, Shoko Teruyama, Demitra Thomloudis, Bob Trotman, Marlene True, Julia Turner, Sarah E Vaughn, James Viste, Eileen Wallace, Paul Andrew Wandless, Tali Weinberg, Sarita Westrup, Adam Whitney, Hayden Wilson, Laura Wood, Julia Woodman, Haley Woodward, Danni Xu, Hiroko Yamada, Kensuke Yamada, Stephen Yusko, Mary Zicafoose.

Thank you!

Posted on by

Julia Woodman to Receive Lucy Morgan Award

Master silversmith Julia Woodman teaches us it’s never too late to be extraordinary.

Julia Woodman with her piece “Computer Aided Pine Cone” in the Penland iron studio

Recently celebrating her 90th birthday, Julia continues to push the limits of metalsmithing, a craft she took up in her fifties.  Julia will receive the Lucy Morgan Award at the 38th Annual Penland Benefit Auction.

Julia Woodman
Computer Aided Pine Cone, 2017
Steel, copper
38 x 17 x 17 inches
Donated to the 38th annual Penland Benefit Auction

Julia Woodman is a smith: a person skilled in making things. In her case, things made of silver and steel. She is also one of Penland’s best friends. 

Her remarkable career in craft began at a time of life when many folks are starting to slow down. She completed an MFA in metals at Georgia State University when she was 62, and then, in 1998 (the year she started drawing Social Security) she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Finland where she became the first American to receive a Master Silversmith diploma. 

Julia Woodman, Kenny Pieper, 2014
Gong Cocktail Service and Black Reticello Martini Goblets
Sterling silver, purpleheart wood, shakudo, fine silver, blown glass
Collection of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Since receiving her Master Silversmith diploma, Julia has made commissioned pieces, won awards, and taught workshops. Her work is in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Dallas Museum of Art, and the High Museum of Art (Atlanta). A major piece commissioned for the 2014 Penland auction (pictured above) became part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Julia Woodman
Fish slice, 1992
Silver, gold plate, citrine
12⅘ inches inches long
Collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Juila’s connection to Penland began in 1986 when she started taking metals workshops every year to supplement her university studies. After her MFA was complete, she switched from metals workshops to iron workshops, and, she says, “I became known as the Old Lady of the Iron Studio.” She continued taking classes in the iron studio well into her 80s. In the last few years she’s been exploring lighter materials such as books and paper. Her workshop total now stands at 28. 

 

Julia working with a student in the Penland metals studio in 2010

Julia started volunteering for the auction in 1997 and has continued to do so up to the present. For many of those years she was accompanied by her lovely husband, Richard Woodman, who passed away in 2012. Julia has taught silversmithing at Penland six times, most recently in 2022. She has supported the school through contributions and by regularly donating her work to the auction. And Penland has a scholarship named in her honor that was endowed by Julia Wilson and other friends. 

Julia Woodman
Woven Majesty Teapot, 1991
Sterling silver, padauk, copper, and silver
13 1/2 x 8 x 5 1/4 inches
Collection of High Museum

When asked why she is so devoted to Penland, Julia immediately said,

Because it’s so incredible to go there. At Penland I learned how to not be afraid of making a mistake. And that was my goal as a teacher: to teach students to stop being afraid of mistakes. Because when you can do that, then you can really make art.

Julia will be presented with the first Lucy Morgan Award in honor of her extraordinary relationship with the school at the 38th Annual Penland Benefit Auction.

Bubbles Champagne Cocktail Ladle #2, 2021
Sterling silver, glass bread by Barbara Becker Simon
15 x 3¾ x 2¾ inches
Donated to the 36th Annual Penland Benefit Auction

The making of the “Computer Aided Pine Cone”

This piece was created at Penland in 2017 during a workshop with Vivian Beer. Julia told us:

Vivian had the manufacturer of the computer aided plasma cutter send the cutter to Penland. The twenty-two parts were cut out in less than forty five minutes. I was thrilled at being able to see my itty bitty tesserae being transformed so big. I took each piece to the 50 ton hydraulic press in the iron studio to round them into shape, then stacked them accordingly. They can be re-stacked in two different ways. I’d be happy to show you.

Find the Computer Aided Pine Cone at the 38th Annual Penland Benefit Auction. Get your tickets  HERE!

Posted on by

“Quilting can be whatever we want it to be.”

Students in Paolo Arao‘s wonderful workshop incorporated textiles from home and from loved ones, creating beautiful and deeply meaningful work. 

Though Paolo began his career as a painter, he has been exploring the expressive nature of textiles in his work since 2016. “Found textiles hold a memory that gets embedded into the work,” he said. “That’s something you don’t get from paint.” 

ALL LEVELS

Many students in Paolo’s 2–week workshop, “Behind the Seams,” had deep experience in quiltmaking and working with textiles, some had never sewn before, and one was a professional quilter.

“I ended up learning so much from the students,” said Paolo. “There isn’t really one way to do something, there are multiple ways, and everyone in class was so generous with their skills and experiences.”

Students learned how to create log cabin, nine patch, half square triangle, and improv quilts. 

They made a two–sided collaborative quilt (which they generously donated to a scholarship auction 🙏) and went on to explore flags, fabric collages, and appliqué techniques.

This class was extremely prolific. The work featured at show and tell was only a small part of what was created during the workshop.

Congratulations, everyone!

PAOLO ARAO
Studio artist; teaching: Oxbow (MI), NYC Crit Club, Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC), Fordham University (NYC); recent solo exhibitions: The Columbus Museum (GA), Morgan Lehman Gallery (NYC); residencies: Haystack (ME), Vermont Studio Center, Art Omi (NY), Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (IA), Skowhegan (ME).