Slate Museum hosting national art exhibit

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Get ready to be blown away by Slate Valley Museum’s first ever National Art Exhibition – “Slate as Muse” that will be starting on June 6.

It will be a five month exhibition, which will open with a reception for the general public, will feature 19 artists, from all over the United States, and 27 works of art that celebrate the material, while pushing the boundaries on how slate is perceived.

“Everyone is used to seeing slate in a functional way,” curator Serena Kovalosky said, “with this show you’re getting the opportunity to see the artistic side of slate.”

The “Slate as Muse” concept began with the nationwide challenge launched to artists in all mediums – sculptors, painters, photographers and mixed media artists to present artwork that offers an innovative reflection on slate as the subject and/or medium.  The goal is to have artists use slate as their creative muse.

Along with the interest in the artistic use of slate, the exhibition hopes to generate dialog around the place for slate in our modern society through effective programming.  “I’m hoping for a really appealing show and to give people the opportunity to see slate in a different perspective,” Kovalosky said.

Visitors to the Slate Valley Museum often assume that the slate industry no longer exists.  In our modern era of man-made, mass produced material, the slate industry has suffered some of the same issues exhibited throughout the country – that of a local products inability to compete in a global economy.

This exhibition will be supplemented with a specially selected programming series.  It will act as a bridge between the history of the slate industry and the modern uses of slate.  Facilitated by the artistic use of slate, visitors will have the opportunity to see how a locally produced, natural product can maintain a place and contribute to the regional identity that is being lost in many places.

Kovalosky has already gotten positive feedback for the exhibition. “People are excited to see what the museum has to offer coming through an art show venue.”

For more information, please contact the curator and organizer of this event, Serena Kovalosky at 232-6445 or [email protected]