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Muriel Kaplan began to teach sculpture at the Armory in 1978, when it was first beginning, and later served on the board of directors and initiated the Master Artists program at the school. The Armory Art Center named their sculpture / ceramics building after her to thank her for her many contributions. Muriel studied mythology with Joseph Campbell and also welding at Cornell University, where she received a BA in Psychology in 1946. She earned her Master's degree in Sculpture and Mythology at Sarah Lawrence College in 1961. She creates drawings and paintings, in many mediums, and sculptures, both reliefs and in the round, mostly in terra-cotta and then cast in bronze. She work both on commission and "for my own pleasure when inspired by personal, philosophical or political subjects". Mark Walnock is the Director of Ceramics at the Armory. He states "My work is based on different growth processes in nature. The pieces depict imagined developing scenarios in which extensions are formed, or are in the process of being formed off of a stationary host. These living hosts can be protected by spikes or scales. Some hosts take shape as root systems or animal parts from land or the sea. The idea of protection through clustering and the persistence for survival in nature are my main themes. I admire nature’s ability to grow under any harsh conditions and to rarely be held back. My pieces begin to reflect a self portrait as the growth inside them is silent, subtle, and ongoing. I attempt to direct the viewer to focus on these generally unnoticed events in order for them to contemplate their own personal growth scenarios. Metal or bronze as an outer layer places a protective “shell” over the piece and avoids a too immediate recognition." Mark graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA earning a BA, with honors, in ceramics. He has worked as an instructor and studio manager for various arts organizations, and has been an artist in residence at the Long Beach Island Foundation and the Vermont Studio Center. He has exhibited his work nationwide and at invitational shows in London and Japan. stephen futej’s work combines discarded clay and degraded construction materials, he says, " to devise a role reversal of space and form, giving a visual accounting of temporary spaces defined by curved planes. These spatial records are regarded as temporal, and can be interpreted as snapshots or fossils that allude to cycles of disintegration and reconfiguration occurring on varied scales. Ultimately they refer to the quest for understanding of the Higgs boson and dark matter, which comprises as much as eighty percent of the universe. There is also a philosophical parallel at work; the concepts of yin and yang relate directly to the mold/positive relationship, and are essential to experiencing Tao, the all-pervading, eternally nameless underlying order." stephen is the former Sculpture Department Director, Armory Art Center, where he developed curriculum in clay sculpture, welding and metals, stone carving, and glass and bronze casting and was an Armory Artist in Residence. He is now an adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University. stephen has also been awarded residencies at the Perkins Center for the Arts and The School at Church Farms. He received his BFA at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and his MFA from Florida Atlantic University. |