Aug. 4, 2008

HARRISBURG – While the world’s attention turns toward Beijing and the Olympics this month, HACC’s Rose Lehrman Arts Center Gallery celebrates the art influences of the Orient in the next exhibit, China Project.

The show of ceramics has several components, highlighted by artist in residence Li Chao of Jingdezhen who will be on campus Aug. 18-29. His work and the work of three American ceramic artists, Barbara Diduk, Michael Connelly and John Matthews, will be on display Aug. 25-Sept. 17 in the gallery on the Harrisburg Campus of HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College.

Chao is a faculty member of the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute of China and director of the JCI-WVU International Ceramic Studios, an exchange program between the institute and West Virginia University. Chao has master’s degrees from both institutions.

He will lecture about his work at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, in Whitaker Hall 214 followed by a reception from 6:30-8 p.m in the gallery. The public is invited to both events.

Chao works in both the traditional and the new contemporary Chinese style that is gaining recognition around the world. He is a master wheel worker and brush painter. His large scale sculpture has included such subjects as bright red parodies of the Buddha which demonstrate a skill with clay and a sense of humor. His current work evokes some of the turmoil that is indicative of the rapidly changing Chinese culture.

Exhibiting artists Diduk, Connelly and Matthews have all studied in Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China.

Diduk, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Art at Dickinson College, created the 101 Vases Project while in Jingdezhen, collecting vases that were alike but each painted by a different artist. An exhibit of the 101 Vases is scheduled for 2009 at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City.

“The project emerged as part visual narrative, part sociological study and part archival document. It is a tribute to the largely unacknowledged artists and artisans in that city,” said Diduk, who will give a free lecture about the project during the exhibit. For details, call the gallery.

Diduk has a master’s degree in fine art from the University of Minnesota. She is represented by the Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York City and her work is shown throughout the United States.

Connelly, a professor at Montgomery County Community College, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. His work, which is largely functional, is exhibited throughout the country. He has taught workshops at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mont., and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colo.

Matthews teaches at Tredyffrin/Easttown School District in Berwyn. He has a bachelor’s degree from Penn State and is in the master’s degree liberal arts program at the University of Pennsylvania. He exhibits his work throughout central Pennsylvania.

All gallery events are free and open to the public. Hours are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 5-7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. For more information call 780-2435 or send an e-mail Kim Banister, gallery curator.