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3 Years of Material Exploration: Core Fellow Lars Shimabukuro

Lars Shimabukuro is leaving Penland after three wonderful years as a Penland Core Fellow 🥹. Anyone who has had the pleasure of sharing space with them can tell you how capable, curious, and intentional they are in everything they do.

At Penland, Lars spent time in nearly every studio, learning techniques to work in paper, wood, clay, and textiles, just to name a few. Here are  images of some of the stunning work that Lars created at Penland.

“Tradewinds” installation at the Praxis Fiber Workshop Gallery in Cleveland, OH

 

This piece, titled “Fish Trap,” combines ceramic and lashed reed.

 

Working in paper

 

 

Chair caning (the chair is old; the rainbow caning is new).

 

 

And so much beautiful weaving

 

This year, Lars will teach weaving at both John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina and Arrowmont in Tennessee! Learning from Lars is sure to be a wonderful experience and we encourage you to sign up. You can also follow them on social media and check out their website for more of their thoughtful work.

LARS IS TEACHING the following weaving workshops:

A Survey in Blocks
John C Campbell Folk School, May 14-20, all levels
This workshop will cover twill blocks, doubleweave blocks, and more

 

Imagery with Theo Moorman
Arrowmont, October 15-20, all levels
Learn a unique inlay technique that allows you to draw on the loom.
(Theo Moorman is the name of inlay technique, which was developed by a weaver named Theo Moorman.)

 

Read more about the other 2020-2022 Penland Core Fellows: Sarina Angell, Molly Bernstein, Maria Fernanda Nuñez, and Tony Santoyo.

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The Stunning Work of Molly Bernstein

Photo by Myles S Pettengill

It’s been wonderful having Molly Bernstein with us for the past three years as a Penland Core Fellow. She’s leaving Penland and heading to Philadelphia. We hope you will follow her on social media, collect her work, and please let her know if you are inspired by her unique vision.

Good luck, Molly! Come visit soon!

Here are a few of the wonderful pieces that Molly created at Penland:

 

One of Molly’s mugs, artfully displayed in the Penland Core Fellows Gallery in the Coffee Shop

 

So many whimsical mugs!

 

“A Map of the World” from the 2021 Core Show; photo courtesy Loam Marketing

 

Detail from “A Map of the World”; photo courtesy Loam Marketing

 

Planter

 

Blue chair installation on the Penland knoll

 

Installation at Laurel Cottage

 

Dots!!

 

Read more about the other 2020-2022 Penland Core Fellows: Sarina AngellMaria Fernanda Nuñez, Tony Santoyo and Lars Shimabukuro.

 

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Welcome, New Core Fellows!

 

We’re excited to announce and welcome our five newest Penland Core Fellows—Kimberly Jo, Brandon Lopez, Nicholas McDonald, Grace Anne Odom, and Amal Tamari. They will join returning fellows Lisa Nguyen, Celia Shaheen, and Lily Wilkins. For one or two years, they will share a house, take classes, expand their practices, and help run the school. We are so excited to welcome them to our community. Meet the new core!

Kimberly Jo is a cross-disciplinary artist working primarily in printmaking, ceramics, and textiles. They received a BFA in printmaking and enjoyed a post-baccalaureate position in ceramics at the Hartford Art School. In addition to pursuing arts education, Kimberly has worked on small-scale farms across northwestern Connecticut. Their dual passions are at the heart of their practice, which draws parallels between different materials and honors the ways in which they diverge.

@blue.nebraska

Brandon Lopez is a Mexican-American artist creating functional and sculptural work with glass. He first began working with glass at Penland in 2013. He then attended Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia where he received a BFA in glass. Brandon has assisted for individual artists as well as for workshops at Penland, Ox-Bow, and Pilchuck. His work combines traditional glassblowing techniques with the aesthetics of objects made by ancient civilizations to create sculpture and design objects. Brandon is currently living in Asheville, focusing on his studio practice and assisting area artists.

 @_brandonlopez

 

Nicholas McDonald received their BA in political science and art from Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. Nicholas’s practice focuses on the power of process and the exploration of their complex identity as a black person, “with one foot in inescapable history and the other in the drive of [their] contemporary environment.” At Penland, they plan to continue to investigate ties between blackness, culture, and craft.

nicholas-malik.com@nicholas_malik

Grace Anne Odom is a metalsmith and photographer in Fayetteville, Arkansas where she works as a bench jeweler and maintains a studio practice. Before focusing on craft, she served her community through social work and earned a BA in psychology at Hendrix College. With the goal of making craft more accessible in her community, she is eager to strengthen and diversify her skills as a core fellow.

@sneekry

Amal Tamari is a recent graduate from Earlham College where she received a BA in studio arts with a focus on ceramics. Since completing her degree, she has been studying at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as a post-baccalaureate student. Amal apprenticed for ceramicists Kelsie Rudolph and Sunshine Cobb in Helena, Montana. Amal is excited to explore different mediums that will help to develop her artistic voice.

amaltamari.com@tamaristudios


Selection Panel

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to apply. Penland received 130+ applications to the core fellowship this year. The selection process was thoughtfully overseen by the following panel, in conjunction with Penland staff.

(Left to right): Ben Blount, studio artist, Mellanee Goodman, grant program manager at Center for Craft, Critz Campbell, professor at Mississippi State University, Althea Murphy-Price, professor at University of Tennessee