MANSFIELD, PA- An exhibit by Joni Oye-Benintende will be on display at the Loomis Gallery beginning Monday, November 2. The exhibit will run through November 22.
Oye-Benintende is a ceramic artist creating sculpture and pottery forms, firing primarily in raku and sawdust. She received a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA from Tama Fine Art University in Tokyo, Japan.
She has exhibited in the U.S. and Japan, including juried exhibitions at Baltimore Clayworks, Northeast Pennsylvania Biennial, Goggleworks, and solo shows at the Sykes Gallery, AFA Art Gallery, Gallery Q and Genkan Gallery.
“My current work centers around the conscious, unconscious, and cultural forces which shape thought and spirituality,” Oye-Benintende said. “Much of the imagery comes from my Japanese Buddhist ancestral background, and the five formative years that I spent living and working there.”
Oye-Benintende is chair of the Art Department at East Stroudsburg University (ESU) where she teaches ceramics, sculpture, and basic drawing. She has received numerous grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, ESU Foundation and others to curate exhibitions and workshops by guest artists from around the country. An officer in the Pocono chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, she organizes the Pocono State Craft Festival, a successful juried arts and crafts show co-sponsored by the Pocono chapter and the Pocono Arts Council.
On Thursday, November 12, Oye-Benintende will conduct a workshop from 12:30-3 p.m. in Allen Hall, Room 022.
An opening reception will follow in the Loomis Gallery from 4-6 p.m.
The exhibit, reception and workshop are free and open to the public.
The Loomis Gallery is located in Allen Hall, 135 Stadium Drive. It is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and by appointment.
For more information on the gallery, go to mansfield.edu/art/gallery
The exhibit is sponsored by MU Art Acquisition and Exhibition Committee, which is funded by Mansfield University College Community Services Inc. (CCSI) and the Mansfield University Foundation. It is supported by student activity fees.