A national touring exhibition originated by the Center for Funiture Craftsmanship is running through November 22 at the Center’s Messler Gallery in Rockport, Maine.

The exhibition, “Far From The Tree,”
presents a visual history of woodturning’s emergence as a vibrant artistic form over the past sixty years.

Following its appearance at the Messler Gallery, the exhibition will be on display at the American Association of Woodturners Gallery in St. Paul, Minnesota from January 11 - April 18, 2008, and the Ohio Craft Museum in Columbus, Ohio from July 13 - August 30, 2008. Subsequently it is scheduled to appear at the Southern Ohio Museum in Portsmouth, Ohio and, tentatively, at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

The show’s curators are Jacques Vesery, from Damariscotta, Maine, and Kevin Wallace, from Los Angeles, California. Vesery is a leading wood artist with an international reputation. Wallace is an independent curator, author, and Director of the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in Ojai, California.
Together, they provide an “insiders” view of the woodturning field. The exhibition takes a fresh look at the field’s roots and the steady expansion of woodturning that has resulted in a bold new approach to contemporary art.

At the center of the exhibit are pioneering artists Bob Stocksdale, Rude Osolnik, Mel Lindquist, James Prestini, and Ed Moulthrop who focused on the natural beauty of wood by utilizing simple vessel forms, all of whom are now deceased. From that core radiates the work of influential contemporary
artists who have expanded the language of the medium in new directions. The works on display feature a broad range of sensibilities, yet are related through their use of wood, lathe and a shared history.

Contemporary American makers represented in Far From The Tree include Michael Brolly, Christian Burchard, Gorst du Plessis, David Ellsworth, Harvey Fein, Ron Fleming, Giles Gilson, Robyn Horn, William Hunter, John Jordan, Stony Lamar, Micheal Lee, Mark Lindquist, Bill Luce, William Moore, Michael Peterson, Merryll Saylan, Betty Scarpino, Mark Sfirri, and Alan Stirt. International exhibitors include Alain Mailland from France, Rolly Munro and Graeme Priddle from New Zeland, Richard Raffan from Australia, and Hans Weissflog from Germany.

The Messler Gallery is located on the campus of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, at 25 Mill Street in Rockport, Maine. Work from the exhibition can also be viewed on the Center’s website,
www.woodschool.org. The Center is a nonprofit school, offering courses in furniture making and related arts such as carving and woodturning. For more information about the Messler Gallery or the Center, please call 207-594-5611 or e-mail cfc-at-woodschool.org.