15th biennial exhibition of craft art established by Sylvia L. and Nathan Rosen to showcase ingenious collection of sculptural forms

(Buffalo, NY, June 24, 2019) On Friday, July 12 the Art in Craft Media 2019 exhibition will celebrate high craftsmanship working primarily with glass, wood, fiber, clay and metal. Presented by the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment for Fine Art in Craft Media, the 15th biennial installation will spotlight a wide variety of ideas and techniques. The exhibition continues through Sunday, October 27, 2019

Art in Craft Media 2019 will feature 44 works by 41 artists all current or past residents of Western New York. Both traditional and contemporary work was selected based on quality, uniqueness, originality and aesthetic integrity:


Kari Achatz
Mindy Airhart
Jozef Bajus
Dianne Baker
Nancy Belfer
Ann Clarke
Linda Collignon
Bob Conge
Laurie Dill-Kocher
Torie Dombrowski
Lynn ***gan
Jack Edson
Tracy Fiegl
Ani Hoover
Mahlon Huston
Kevin Kegler
Jeff Kell
William Keyser
Christine Knoblauch
Paul Knoblauch
Bethany Krull
Anthony Locane
Jake Martin
Lydia Martin
Barbara Murak
Richard Nickel
Lynn Northrop
Pat Pauly
Ann PerrySmith
Billy Prendergast
Richard Rockford
Taeyoul Ryu
Stephen Saracino
Samantha Schnell
Rachel Shelton
Lee Somers
Catherine Southwick
Jason Tennant
Colleen Toledano
Robert Wood
Bob Wurster



The juror for Art in Craft Media 2019 is Marvin Bjurlin, Distinguished Teaching Professor emeritus of visual arts and new media at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Since 1968 joining the faculty there, Bjurlin has worked in the ceramic medium at his studio in Fredonia. During that time his artwork ranged from functional pottery forms to vessels presented as sculpture, from low-fire clay and terra-cotta, to high-fire stoneware and porcelain. Bjurlin has progressed to wood-fired sculpture celebrating marine life. His hand-built fish forms have the distinctive surface qualities, both in color and texture, that are characteristic of the lengthy wood-firing process. While some of his pieces have been fired in several locations in the U.S. and Canada, most have been fired at his kilns in Chautauqua County. Bjurlin’s work has been displayed in craft-shows and galleries across the United States. It can be found in numerous private collections. The Burchfield Penney owns several examples of his work. The installation, Planatary Array, 1987 was acquired by the museum as the first aquisition of the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment Purchase Award in 1988.

“In celebrating the work in this exhibition, we are taken on a journey that the artists and juror instigate. As artists redefine themselves and breakdown past notions of identity within craft, we as viewers are also participants,” said Scott Propeack, Burchfield Penney associate director and chief curator. “Each of our understandings of what we see and try to locate it in our experience and knowledge.” The exhibition, one of the Center’s largest openings, continues to provide a space for emerging artists to exhibit alongside of well-established artists in the community.

About The Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment
Sylvia L. Rosen is a respected potter and educator who taught ceramics at SUNY Buffalo State, University at Buffalo, and Amherst Senior High School. In 1987 she and her husband, Nathan, created the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment for Fine Arts in the Craft Media at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. It has made possible juried biennial craft art exhibitions with purchase awards, alternating with biennial craft art lectures by field specialists. The first exhibition took place in 1988. Since then, these events have been a major force in the advancement and recognition of craft media in Western New York.


About the Burchfield Penney Art Center at SUNY Buffalo State
Founded in 1966 on the campus of SUNY Buffalo State, the Burchfield Penney Art Center is dedicated to the art and vision of renowned American watercolorist Charles E. Burchfield (1893–1967) and the distinguished artists of Western New York state. In 2008, the Burchfield Penney expanded from its
location in Rockwell Hall to a new $36 million freestanding facility in the heart of Buffalo’s Museum
District. Designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects, the museum includes more than
84,000 square feet dedicated primarily to galleries, as well as education and program space. It is home to the world’s largest collection of artwork and ephemera by Burchfield and a collection of more than 8,000 works by over 850 artists. The Burchfield Penney was the first LEED certified art museum in New York State and was featured by travel editors of the New York Times as one of the “44 Places to Go in 2009.” For more information go to, www.burchfieldpenney.org