A Discussion with Windgate ITE Alumni

A Discussion with Windgate ITE Alumni | Thurs. January 14, 2021 | 6:30 – 7:30 pm | LIVE on ZOOM

RSVP to receive the virtual link

Join us for a panel discussion featuring Windgate ITE alumni. Founded in 1995, the Windgate International Turning Exchange (ITE) is a uniquely collaborative arts residency program. For two summer months, artists and researchers from around the world live, work, ideate, and create together in the clamorous center of Philadelphia. Together, they share knowledge and skill, but also form lasting bonds that extend beyond the residency. During this tumultuous time, breakthroughs, intense bursts of creativity, material and conceptual experimentations, and collaborations occur. Significantly, this singular place-based experience engages a wide community, beyond the participating fellows—from children enjoying interactive and touchable works in the culminating exhibition of residency work, to collectors seeking to expand their art holdings. 

Panelists:
Felicia Francine Dean, US— Artist Fellow, ITE 2017
Morgan Hill, US—Artist Fellow, ITE 2018
Todd Hoyer, US—Artist Fellow, ITE 1995
Yuri Kobayashi, Japan/US—Artist Fellow, ITE 2014
Hayley Smith, UK/US—Artist Fellow, ITE 1995

Moderator:
Jennifer-Navva Milliken, Artistic Director of the Center for Art in Wood

Felicia Francine Dean (image by Benjamin Sechrest)

Felicia Francine Dean – Felicia Francine Dean’s creative work applies intrinsic methods of reconciling identity, space and place based on her experiences as a bi-racial individual growing up in South Florida and living in the Southern United States. Physical forms of her ideas are abstracted during investigations into material identities, surface, furniture and textile methods of making. She holds an MFA degree in Interior Architecture with a focus on furniture design, a BA in Studio Art and an Upholstery diploma.  Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the College of Architecture & Design’s School of Interior Architecture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Felicia Francine has engaged in nationally and international residencies, exhibits, and conferences such as the Digital Stone Project and Windgate ITE residencies, Marble Codes exhibit in Florence Italy, and Interior Design Educators Council and Furniture Society conferences. Her work has been featured as an emerging designer by Dwell Magazine and at the High Point Furniture Market.

Morgan Hill (image by Heather Canterbury)

Morgan Hill – Morgan likes watching cult movies in search of surprise and in contrast to her daily tasks. She is entirely too enthusiastic about costume competitions, the next bash she will throw, 80’s music, and learning something new. When she is not doing those things, she is creating wearable art, objects, and installations that embody her passion for an unusual life.

Morgan Hill’s formal art education began at Memphis College of Art (TN), where she focused in drawing. Her desire for a design literacy led her to study interior design at the University of Central Arkansas, and she earned her BFA in Furniture and Woodworking at the University of Arkansas Little Rock. She has completed the Penland School of Craft Core Fellowship (NC) and the Windgate ITE Residency at the Center for Art in Wood (PA). Morgan’s work has been included in exhibits at the Asheville Art Museum (NC), Center for Art in Wood (PA), Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh (NC), Alabama Center for Architecture, and numerous collections. Today, she creates in a shared studio with four of her favorite colleagues in Spruce Pine, NC.

Todd Hoyer (Image by Hayley Smith)

Todd Hoyer – Todd Hoyer was born in 1952, in Wisconsin.  He was raised in Phoenix, AZ., where he attended Arizona State University, majoring in manufacturing engineering and design technology from 1970-1975.  He moved to Bisbee, Arizona in 1976 where he began working in his studio.

He has been invited to over 100 group and solo exhibitions. His work is in many private collections and museums including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

He has participated in residencies in the U.S. and Australia, and has taught extensively over the last forty years in the US, Australia, Canada and Ireland.

Yuri Kobayashi (image by Bailey Davids Photography)

Yuri Kobayashi – Yuri Kobayashi is a furniture maker and sculptor based in Camden, Maine. Born in Japan, she first studied architectural design and then trained in woodworking at Shinrin Takumi Juku in Takayama. After moving to the U.S., Yuri earned an MFA in Furniture Design from San Diego State University and taught at the Rhode Island School of Design for fourteen years. Yuri’s approach demonstrates a cross-bridge between craft, art, and design. She carries out her studio practice as a long-standing fellow at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. She exhibits nationally and has received a number of competitive residencies, grants, and fellowships, including the Windgate ITE Residency in 2014 and residencies at SUNY Purchase, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Arizona State University Art Museum.

Hayley Smith (image by Todd Hoyer)

Hayley Smith – Hayley Smith was born in 1965 in Cardiff, Wales, where she received her BA Honors degree in Art Education in 1991.

Smith started exhibiting in 1990. She has undertaken two residencies at Grizedale Sculpture Park, England, and was one of the resident fellows in the first Windgate ITE Residency Program, PA in 1995. She participated in the “Designing Futures” residency in Western Australia. She has taught classes at schools including Anderson Ranch Arts Center and Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, and has presented at symposiums in Australia, Ireland and throughout the US.

Smith’s work is in private and public collections including the Detroit Institute of Arts; Museum of Arts and Design, New York City; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Yale University Art Gallery.

In 1998, Smith moved to Bisbee, Arizona, where she still resides and works today a mile high in the Mule Mountains.

This event is free to the public. The Center for Art in Wood interprets, nurtures, and champions creative engagement and expansion of art, craft, and design in wood to enhance the public’s understanding and appreciation of it. A suggested donation of $5 per person enables us to provide programs and exhibitions throughout the year.

Donate

For questions, contact Katie Sorenson, Community Engagement Manager, at [email protected]

Image: Amber Johnston, Fellow Yuri Kobayashi and Jack Laramore during Open Studio Day, 2014