Landenberg artist's work to be featured at WCU
11/01/2016 01:09PM ● By Richard Gaw
By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer
A retrospective celebrating the work of the late Landenberg artist Bernie Felch is on display at West Chester University. "Art Works! A Retrospective 1951-2008" will continue through Dec. 16 at the John H. Baker Gallery in the E.O. Bull Center for the Arts.
The exhibition includes a substantive body of the artist's work, including watercolors, oil paintings, pottery, marble sculpture, wood sculpture, ceramic sculpture, wall pieces and carved brick walls.
The show is wrapped around the recent publication of “The Art of Bernie Felch," created by designer Jeff Smith, photographer Terence Roberts, Felch's daughter Lindsey and Felch's wife, Roz. In addition to an illustrated biography, the book includes essays from Margaret Winslow, curator of contemporary art at the Delaware Art Museum; painters Gus Sermas and Ruth Miller; and London architect Benedict O’Looney.
Throughout his artistic life, Felch -- who died in 2008 -- exhibited his paintings, sculpture and ceramics in numerous solo and group shows in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, and several of his pieces are included in corporate, museum and private collections.
After serving in the Army in Germany during World War II, he received a B.A. in 1946 from Williams College, with a double major in art and literature. He then attended the University of London in England. After returning to the U.S., he settled in Rochester, N.Y., where he studied with Bauhaus ceramic artist Franz Wildenhain, his lifelong mentor who gave him a strong background in all phases and formal techniques for working in clay. He then returned to France, where he studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julien in Paris. He then studied in Florence, Italy at the Instituto del’Arte.
In addition to his work as an artist, Felch taught art at Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Mass.; Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh; The Tatnall School in Wilmington; and the University of Delaware, where he received his Masters of Fine Art. He then taught at Lincoln University for 21 years, where he was chairman of the Fine Arts Department.
After retiring from Lincoln, he taught ceramics at the Center for the Creative Arts in Yorklyn; The Urban Environmental Center in Wilmington; and gave many workshops in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
For more information about the book and the retrospective, contact Lindsey Felch at [email protected]. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail [email protected].
Staff Writer
A retrospective celebrating the work of the late Landenberg artist Bernie Felch is on display at West Chester University. "Art Works! A Retrospective 1951-2008" will continue through Dec. 16 at the John H. Baker Gallery in the E.O. Bull Center for the Arts.
The exhibition includes a substantive body of the artist's work, including watercolors, oil paintings, pottery, marble sculpture, wood sculpture, ceramic sculpture, wall pieces and carved brick walls.
The show is wrapped around the recent publication of “The Art of Bernie Felch," created by designer Jeff Smith, photographer Terence Roberts, Felch's daughter Lindsey and Felch's wife, Roz. In addition to an illustrated biography, the book includes essays from Margaret Winslow, curator of contemporary art at the Delaware Art Museum; painters Gus Sermas and Ruth Miller; and London architect Benedict O’Looney.
Throughout his artistic life, Felch -- who died in 2008 -- exhibited his paintings, sculpture and ceramics in numerous solo and group shows in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, and several of his pieces are included in corporate, museum and private collections.
After serving in the Army in Germany during World War II, he received a B.A. in 1946 from Williams College, with a double major in art and literature. He then attended the University of London in England. After returning to the U.S., he settled in Rochester, N.Y., where he studied with Bauhaus ceramic artist Franz Wildenhain, his lifelong mentor who gave him a strong background in all phases and formal techniques for working in clay. He then returned to France, where he studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julien in Paris. He then studied in Florence, Italy at the Instituto del’Arte.
In addition to his work as an artist, Felch taught art at Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Mass.; Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh; The Tatnall School in Wilmington; and the University of Delaware, where he received his Masters of Fine Art. He then taught at Lincoln University for 21 years, where he was chairman of the Fine Arts Department.
After retiring from Lincoln, he taught ceramics at the Center for the Creative Arts in Yorklyn; The Urban Environmental Center in Wilmington; and gave many workshops in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
For more information about the book and the retrospective, contact Lindsey Felch at [email protected]. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail [email protected].
