Mary O’Doherty
502-592-7856
mary.odoherty@
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOUISVILLE, KY (June 7, 2007) – Eleven glass artists who served as apprentices to Stephen Rolfe Powell from 1985 to 2007 are celebrating the connection to their mentor by holding a companion show to one of Powell’s at Flame Run contemporary art glass studio. The exhibit is planned in conjunction with Powell’s mid-career retrospective at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.
“Johnson Smith and Jones: Stephen Rolfe Powell’s Powerful Legacy to Glass Art” opens Sept. 29 and runs through Nov. 20. An opening night reception is from 6 to 9 p.m. Powell, a seminal figure in contemporary glass in Kentucky, is a professor at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.
The artists, part of a larger group of apprentices who worked for Powell over the last 25 years, are the apprentices who worked most closely with him, said Flame Run co-owner Brook White, who worked for Powell for 12 years.
“We helped him make his art and do demonstrations at shows. We traveled with him, helped photograph his work, delivered glass, and repaired the equipment,” White said. “It was truly a hands on, life-changing experience. To see the progression of his career first hand was instrumental for us as we figured out how to make a living as glass artists.”
The 11 artists share the distinction of pursuing their art full-time and making a living at it, White said. The group includes Pat Martin and Ché Rhodes, full-time professors who head up glass programs at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, and the University of Louisville. Four – White, Paul Nelson, Paul Hugues and Naomi Stuecker – work at Flame Run. (See full artist list below.)
The name of the show is an inside joke, White said. Early in his career, Powell gave each of his pieces three names, one of which was “Johnson, Smith or Jones”. Powell told his apprentices he chose those most common American names because glass is such an ordinary substance.
Artist List
Brook White Louisville
Paul Nelson Louisville
Paul Hugues Louisville
Ché Rhodes Louisville
Pat Martin Emporia, Kansas
Thomas Spake Chatanooga, Tennessee
Matt Cummings Louisville
Naomi Stuecker Louisville
Lauren Arnold Danville, Kentucky
Adam Kinney Pittsburgh
D. H. McNabb Seattle
