28 Artists Showing Repurposed-Materials Art at 6th Annual Art Demonstration Day, April 14, 2012

6^th Annual Art Demonstration Day features artist working with found objects or recycled materials

Artisans at the Dahmen Barn in Uniontown is proud to announce its 6^th Annual Art Demonstration Day on Saturday, April 14, from 11 am to 4 pm.  This is a free event.  Each year a different medium or technique is selected then we bring in visiting artists to demonstrate what they do and highlight our resident artists whose work is appropriate.  This year 13 visiting artists will join 15 of our artists showing their creativity with repurposed materials.

Of our resident artists, Alison Oman incorporates found objects into the jewelry she weaves with beads.  Terri Walters, whose primary medium is ceramics, has branched out into textile arts and makes tote bags by felting woolen garments.  Carrie Vielle incorporates paper into her collages of the human figure.  Linda Shewey selects fun ceramic items and creates cake plates.  Old barn wood is often used with the Fimo clay pieces by Carole Galloway.  Tracy Randall keeps a collection of items she happens to find to incorporate into her textile pieces.  Kat Clancy creates greeting cards using recycled paper and found objects.  Each of the seven members of the Fiber Fusion studio uses repurposed material, and Becky Thorgaard weaves with feathers and beads.

The variety of demonstrations by visiting artists is wide this year.  John Elwood, maker of fine wooden stringed instruments, discovered that a WSU Cougar Gold Cheese can makes a great instrument which he calls a Canjo.  John will be demonstrating making the wood tuning pegs he puts on the Canjo, but will take regular breaks to play some songs.  Rik Fromdahl carves peach pits, and Will Leaton creates sculpture from a diverse range of materials he finds.  Betty Thompson and Rosanne Anderson will both be demonstrating rug making, each using different repurposed materials.  Because a diary is too much and Facebook too little, Wendy Erman creates journal books.  Mardi Bolick’s favorite medium is mosaics using broken glass and china.  Tyler Garcia turns old vinyl records into art as well as clocks.  Unique birdhouses by Clayton Struck are one-of-a-kind and each is primarily used materials.  Marcia Parish creates fun vintage art handbags using materials from old clothes, retired upholstery samples, antique threads, trims and laces, and recycled beads, buttons, and sequins.  Priscilla Struck also makes purses but she uses wrappers from coffee, cookies, old maps, etc., which are very unique.  Len Zeoli and Ben Carpenter are both fine wood artists.  They will be turning wood on a lathe and sharing with visitors how they find the trees that they turn into bowls and furniture.

Artisans at the Dahmen Barn is a non-profit creativity center in Uniontown on highway where art comes alive!  The building is fully ADA compliant and has no daily admission fee.  Information:  www.artisanbarn.org or 509-229-3414.