Exhibitions

The Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition is a national juried competition presented annually by the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Each year, ten sculptures are selected for exhibition, with a cash prize awarded to the artist whose work is chosen as that year's Rosen Award winner. Since its establishment in 1987, The Rosen has become an integral part of An Appalachian Summer Festival, the university's annual multi-arts celebration, with the announcement of the Rosen Award winner coming during the festival's annual Sculpture Walk with that year's juror.

The Halpert Biennial '09 is a national, juried, two-dimensional art competition and exhibition program designed to recognize new works by emerging and established artists residing in the United States. Serving as this year's juror is Jeffrey Grove who serves as the Wieland Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The High Museum of Art located in Atlanta, Georgia. The Halpert Biennial, an integral part of An Appalachian Summer Festival, is made possible through a generous endowment from Buddy & Charlotte Halpert and is dedicated to the couple's memory. This exhibition has grown to feature some of the most exciting new visual art in the country and focuses on a range of art including paintings, drawings, prints, photography, mixed media, and works using traditional and non-traditional materials.

Faculty Selects is an annual exhibition of student work sponsored by The Furniture Society, an international, non-profit organization based in nearby Asheville, and presented in conjunction with The Furniture Society's 2009 annual conference, which will be held at Appalachian State University June 10 - 13, 2009.

Christy graduated in May 2002 from the University of Northern Iowa. Earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, she quickly set her sights toward the East Coast. Upon arriving in Providence, Rhode Island, Christy exhibited her public art in Convergence 2003, and then created three-dimensional commercial graphics for the NFL on CBS as well as pieces for The Apprentice, Gravity Games and HBO.

Steven Siegel currently lives and works in upstate New York. He received his MFA from Pratt Institute, and an MA and BA from Hampshire College in Amherst. He has received numerous grants and awards and has completed site sculptures and installations within the United States and abroad. The Turchin Center is proud to premiere this new body of work in honor of the 25th anniversary of An Appalachian Summer Festival. After opening at the center, the exhibition will travel nationally through 2010. Siegel returns to campus in September where he will work with students from the departments of Art and Biology.

Harlan Toole was born in Mobile, Alabama, and currently lives in Lenoir, North Carolina. In 2007, she received her BFA from the Department of Art at Appalachian State University. Of her work, the artist says, "My work is representational but it is not completely realistic. Since I base my imagery on memory and experience, my work is not photo realistic. In my latest works, I aspire to seduce the viewer to experience a particular mood or feeling and I want to continue experimenting with this idea in my future works. Technique is extremely important to accomplish my desired quality but ultimately concept is the basis of all of my paintings."

Samina Iqbal is a member of adjunct faculty at Appalachian State University since 2004. She works in printmaking, painting and installations. She has shown her work in England, India, Pakistan and USA. Samina lives and works between USA and Pakistan.

The Turchin Center for the Visual Arts is proud to be a host of an Art-o-mat ® machine. Art-o-mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art. The project was started in 1997 by Winston-Salem artist Clark Whittington, whose inclusion of an old vending machine in one of his shows created an unexpected and long-lasting impression. What followed was the formation of Artists in Cellophane (AIC), an organization based on the concept of "taking art and repackaging it to make it part of our daily lives." There are currently over 75 active machines in various locations throughout the country, and approximately 400 contributing artists from ten different countries work to keep the machines stocked. "The experience of pulling the knob alone is quite a thrill, but you also walk away with an original work of art. What an easy way to become an art collector." For more information, please visit the Art-o-mat website at www.artomat.org.