Exhibits

HERE & NOWHERE ELSE
Two new projects by John Ryan Brubaker
Closing Sunday, August 15th

AVOID HIGHWAYS: The images in this series are composed of many individual photographs taken along a route as I’ve walked or driven from one location to another. These photographs have been algorithmically combined to form a mathematically average composition. Collectively, they are no longer literal transcriptions, but synthesized visual impressions of transition through time and space.

RAIN PIECES: This series is an attempt to observe and contemplate the microclimate shift atop the ridge where I live and to engage with the rain forest nature of my home in Thomas, WV. I use the 19th-Century Van Dyke photographic process to make these records of water and sunlight. I see them as visual artifacts from my immediate personal and atmospheric environment.  Framing for the ‘Rain Pieces’ series was done in collaboration with Art Spring and Skoog Shop in Canaan Valley.  The wood is untreated, naturally-fallen Black Walnut from Tucker County.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: John Ryan Brubaker is a visual artist based in Thomas, West Virginia.  He often works with experimental photographic processes – both chemical and digital – to create concept-based work derived from walks and drives through varying environments.   He also produces objects and field recordings from the physical remnants of resource extraction – found coal, industrial pollution, abandoned mines, etc.

Thank you to the Elliot Family Foundation, Daywood Foundation, Herscher Foundation, The Bernard H. and Blanche E. Jacobson Foundation, Charles & Mary Fayne Glotfelty Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History, and Fund for the Arts for their support of this exhibition. The Clay Center’s performing arts and visual arts offerings are presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

 

 

 

 

Open Now!
Tradition Interrupted
Closing Sunday, September 12th

Tradition Interrupted explores how artists weave contemporary ideas with traditional art and craft to create thought-provoking hybrid images and objects that have caught the world’s attention. The 12 artists in this show—and their traditions—hail from every corner of the globe. From rugs and mosaic to metalwork and ceramics, they are merging age-old art and craft customs with innovative techniques that interrupt tradition while still collaborating with the past.

The artists featured in Tradition Interrupted have lived their lives steeped in the traditions of their ancestors and their connections to cultural customs, imagery, and materials are complex. Some have shared the trepidation they felt when they conceptualized and created their art, but in the process of unraveling tradition, these artists are embracing it and bringing it forward. Ancestral memories and political history—at risk of being forgotten in our fast-paced, digital world—take center stage here. It’s harder to lose sight of something that is staring right at you.

Tradition Interrupted is presented with support from Daywood Foundation, The Elliot Family Foundation, Charles & Mary Fayne Glotfelty Foundation, Herscher Foundation, Bernard H. & Blanche E. Jacobson Foundation, Fund for the Arts (The Clay Center salutes the following major donors to Fund for the Arts whose annual gifts of $10,000 or more help keep all the arts thriving in our area including City of Charleston, Cecil I. Walker Charitable Foundation, Daywood Foundation, Spilman, Thomas & Battle PLLC.  This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

 

 

 

Through the Years: A Celebration of the Clay Center Collectors Club
Opening Saturday, August 28, 2021
Juliet Art Museum
 

Founded in 1986, the Collectors Club was formed by members of the Charleston community to raise funds for the then-named Sunrise Art Museum Permanent Collection. Over time, the Club expanded its role to also support educational programming, tours, lectures, visiting artists and exhibitions.

Now, as they celebrate their 35th anniversary, the Club has continued to acquire works for the museum through its move to the Clay Center and the Juliet Art Museum, and since its inception, has contributed more than $500,000 for the purchase of 60+ works of art for the collection.
 
“Through the Years” tells the story of the Collectors Club and the evolution of their acquisitions. Beginning with an emphasis on 20th century works on paper and evolving to focus on West Virginian and Appalachian artists, the Club has contributed significantly to the rich holdings of the Clay Center’s permanent collection.

Through the Years is presented with support from Daywood Foundation, The Elliot Family Foundation, Charles & Mary Fayne Glotfelty Foundation, Herscher Foundation, Bernard H. & Blanche E. Jacobson Foundation, Fund for the Arts (The Clay Center salutes the following major donors to Fund for the Arts whose annual gifts of $10,000 or more help keep all the arts thriving in our area including City of Charleston, Cecil I. Walker Charitable Foundation, Daywood Foundation, Spilman, Thomas & Battle PLLC.  This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.