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CU to Feature Two Artists at The Pence-Chowning Art Gallery

Feb. 20, 2017
For Immediate Release

Brian Somerville
Brian Somerville

By Jaleel Cowan, student writer, Office of University Communications

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Campbellsville University will feature work of two guest artists at The Pence Chowning Art Gallery, 205 University Drive, Campbellsville, Ky. through Feb. 24. The gallery will present works from Matthew Gaddie and Brian Somerville, both from Evansville, Ind.

Gaddie and Somerville obtained their bachelor degrees at the University of Evansville in Indiana. Gaddie received his Master of Fine Arts in Studio Ceramics from Hood College, and focused his artistic emphasis on crafting and designing a 37-ton wood kiln, and 1400 square foot studio/gallery in the years of 2007 and 2010. Somerville received his Master of Fine Arts from Florida Atlantic University, and owns a studio in Burns, Tenn.

“He seeks to challenge the boundaries of an artistic experience and he sculpts beast that tell stories,” Somerville said. “Each theme is explored through humor, and often he invites the audience to laugh now cry later and enjoy the show with him,” Somerville said.

Gaddie conducts national workshops and teaches classes across the commonwealth, recently Gaddie instructed a graduate level workshop with a focus on kiln building at Hood College.

Somerville received The Best Of Show Award. His beast sculptures reflect our culture, and have specific themes such as social, political, and personal.

“In the tradition of a beast tale, my unpolished creatures reflect our society in ways that are uncomfortably familiar,” Somerville said.

The beast was influenced by years of design, themed construction, and large-scale fabrication. Gaddie is recognized as one of one hundred of the most notable wood fired potters worldwide in a book by New York author Amedeo Salamoni.

Gaddie is an inspiring artist who took note on how his stepfather was a faithful steward of the farmland that is now his art studio and gallery. He feels things that are considered valuable take time to create, he sees himself as a farm-raised laborer who has fond memories of planting, weeding, and harvesting. Since the world is so fast paced, and people are always in a rush he feels that the objects he creates slow down the moment, and give people a moment to connect. “Using clinical patterns such as throwing, trimming, and glazing are very comfortable to me,” Gaddie said.

Somerville has instructed lectures and demonstrations from Fort Laurderdale, FL. to Brockway, PA. Somerville’s professional experience varies from being a professor in 2006, to being a Clay Studio Artist in 2009, to recently holding a position as an Artist for the Noble Building Group. Some of Somerville’s publications include “Free Fall at Corvidae Collective Gallery.”  And “Blood, Sweat and Tiny Tears at the Airport.” Somerville’s art tends to appeal to a person’s imagination, and culture as fore stated. New generations of Somerville’s work also incorporate a variety of mixed media and sculpting techniques.

The gallery is open during the following hours: Mondays, 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. and noon until 5:50 p.m.; Tuesdays, 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. and noon until 4 p.m.; Wednesdays, 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.; Thursdays, 9 a.m. until 10 a.m. and noon until 5:30 p.m. and Fridays, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

For more information on the Department of Art and Design at Campbellsville University, contact Linda J. Cundiff, chair of the department and professor of art, at ljcundiff@campbellsville.edu or (270) 789-5268.

Campbellsville University is a widely-acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 4,500 students offering over 80 programs of study including 19 master’s degrees, six postgraduate areas and seven pre-professional programs. The university has off-campus centers in Louisville, Harrodsburg, Somerset and Hodgenville with instructional sites in Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Summersville and a full complement of online programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.