Christopher P. Staley, distinguished professor of art in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture, has been named Penn State laureate for 2012-13. He will visit Penn State Berks on Wednesday, Feb. 20, where he will present "Art and Life: Where They Intersect," at 1 p.m. in room 247 of the Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building. This presentation is free and open to public. Stanley will also have an open conversation with local artists at 3 p.m. in the college?s Freyberger Gallery.
During this lecture, Stanley will pose many theoretical questions. ?We live in a time of unprecedented change. What has this change done to how we relate to objects, each other and our sense of place? How has our sense of time been affected? What are the underlying factors that cause a person to be curious? How does spitting in a cup create insights to the powerful corporeal boundaries between inside and outside? How does throwing pots on an I-phone relate to the world of the analog and digital? And lastly why are tears important to learning??
According to Staley, whose work is included in collections around the world, art and life are "profoundly interrelated." Throughout his career, he says, he has come to recognize how art can have profound implications on all aspects of life.
"It is these observations, along with provocative questions, that I wish to share with the extended Penn State community and beyond," Staley explained. "Art has the ability to build a sense of community because it can rekindle our collective sense of childhood wonder."
Named a Penn State Distinguished Professor in 2008, Staley joined the University faculty in 1990, teaching ceramics in the School of Visual Arts. Under his leadership, the Ceramics Graduate Program has been ranked No. 10 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
His ceramic pieces are included in the International Museum of Ceramic Art, Fuping, China; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; and the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art, Washington D.C., among others. He is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and serves as chair of the board of directors at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, an international craft school in Deer Isle, Maine. In February 2012, he gave a talk at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India.
For more information visit the Penn State laureate web site.