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Ohio Wesleyan Artists Among Ohio Designer Craftsmen's 'Best of 2017'

Works by Professor Cynthia Cetlin, Student Wyatt Hall Selected for Upcoming Exhibition

DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University fine arts professor Cynthia Cetlin and student Wyatt Hall are among the artists selected to exhibit works in the upcoming Ohio Designer Craftsmen “Best of 2017” showcase.

The 34^th annual juried exhibition will run from May 7 through June 18 at the Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W. Fifth Ave., Columbus, and from July 7 through Sept. 9 at the Southern Ohio Museum, 825 Gallia St., Portsmouth. The event will showcase works in clay, glass, fiber, wood, metal, and mixed media – all created by Ohio Designer Craftsmen artists.

Cetlin, M.F.A., who joined Ohio Wesleyan’s faculty in 1987, will have two fiber pieces in the show, with her creation “Felt Memory” earning the Ruth Lantz Award for Excellence in Fiber. She will be recognized during an awards presentation at 3 p.m. May 7 at the Ohio Craft Museum.

“Wool, like gold, has a memory,” Cetlin says of the piece, “and when formed and dried, as in this seamless neckpiece, can be stretched, only to return to its original form.” The piece is made from merino wool and natural dyes, using wet-felted, stitched-resist, and shibori (fabric dying) techniques.

Her second piece “Forest Ground” was inspired by “a favorite path taken through shoreline pine forest in Deer Isle, Maine,” Cetlin says, and is made of rust-colored merino wool and naturally died, pale green silk. It was created using wet-felted, stitched-resist, and nuno (fiber bonding) techniques.

Hall, a senior from Delaware, is exhibiting small-scale metal sculpture and jewelry – both created as part of Cetlin’s metals course. Hall will earn his Ohio Wesleyan Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in May with concentrations in metals and bookmaking.

His “Blue-Green Fracking Well” sculpture was created using copper, nickel, cupric nitrate, and silver nitrate. His “Softshell Necklace” incorporates copper, brass, merino wool, liver of sulfur, Prismacolor pencil, and heat patina.

“The metal sculptures which I construct are created utilizing traditional metalworking techniques,” Hall says. “Their toy-like, miniature scale is reminiscent of the train models that I built with my father and grandfather in my childhood.

“Constructing isolated objects within the rural landscape, such as fracking wells, on the scale of a model creates a shift in perspective which allows me to consider industrial processes and the rural landscape on a manageable scale,” Hall says.

Learn more about the Ohio Designer Craftsmen “Best of 2017” exhibit at www.ohiocraft.org. Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan’s fine arts department at www.owu.edu/finearts.

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Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers nearly 90 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through Ohio Wesleyan’s signature OWU Connection program, students integrate knowledge across disciplines, build a diverse and global perspective, and apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.