Ohio Designer Craftsman show open through Wednesday

See award-winning work by BGSU faculty and students in the "Ohio Designer Craftsman: Best of 2016" national exhibition, on view through Wednesday (Sept. 28) in the Willard Wankelman Gallery at the Fine Arts Center. Two of the students are also featured in an international publication on metalsmithing.

In the juried traveling exhibition, Distinguished Artist Professor Tom Muir received the Brian Lonsway Award for Humor in Craft, 2015 M.F.A. alumnus Josh Kosker won the Collector’s Award for Excellence, and current M.F.A. student Dinu Gavris won the Jane H. Zimmerman Award for Excellence for Body of Work. Their works were discussed in the juror's statement. Nick Althoff, a 2012 M.F.A. alumnus, also has two works in the show.

The works were selected for excellence in design, craftsmanship, and use of material and were recognized for their innovation and experimentation, presenting contemporary artworks that broke new ground with form and technique.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Admission is free.

In addition, Kosker and Gavris have work featured in "Shifting Sites," the 2016 Metalsmith Exhibition in Print, an international publication with a circulation of 13,000 world-wide. 

The Society of North American Goldsmiths’ 2016 Juried Exhibition in Print, produced by Metalsmith, showcases works that reveal innovative approaches to how jewelry and metal objects are conceived, made and displayed. For this “Shifting Sites” issue, the emphasis is on location or place as subject or actual space for the creation and display of work. According to the publication, “The works featured expand and explore the ‘where’ of contemporary metalsmithing: where shown or sold; where is it worn or used; where does it have environmental impact; where is work made. As a subject for metalsmithing, ‘site’ can be understood as geography, landscape or cityscape and be revealed in imagery or forms that reference natural settings, architecture, urban or rural spaces.”