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Office: (717) 691-6027
E-mail: blorow@messiah.edu

	"On the Edges and in the Margins" Christine A. Forsythe Click on image to download print-quality version

GRANTHAM, Pa. (Jan. 25, 2006) — The Aughinbaugh Gallery at Messiah College will present the art exhibit “On the Edges and in the Margins” from Feb. 17 to March 24. The exhibit features new work of Christine A. Forsythe, professor of art and chair of the department of visual arts at Messiah College. The show will open Feb. 17 with an artist’s talk in the gallery at 6 p.m. followed by a reception from 7 to 8 p.m. on the lower level of Climenhaga Fine Arts Center. The gallery is open Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 to 5 p.m. It will be closed from March 11 to 19, while the college is recessed for Spring Break.

Forsythe’s work is inspired by medieval illuminated manuscripts. In addition to the formal embellishment of the written word, notes and tiny drawings were often scribbled in the margins by the original scribe and subsequent readers.  These marginalia, glosses, annotations and commentaries can augment the subject or perhaps divert one’s attention away from the text.  Forsythe has explored some of the layers of meaning of edges and margins through distinctive handmade artist’s books, knitted wire, works on handmade paper and a woven installation piece.  

Forsythe has been teaching ceramics and textiles courses at Messiah College since 1982. She earned a B.A. in studio art from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with an emphasis in textiles, and an M.F.A. in weaving and textiles from the School of American Craft at Rochester Institute of Technology. She was an artist-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center and has taught for Gordon College in Orvieto, Italy. Forsythe works in a variety of media and processes including hand papermaking, artist's books and large hand-dyed hangings which have been widely exhibited.

About the Aughinbaugh Gallery
Located on the lower level of the Climenhaga Fine Arts Center on Messiah College’s Grantham campus, the M. Louise Aughinbaugh Gallery exhibits the work of internationally recognized artists from around the world, as well as faculty and students. The gallery features new exhibitions on a monthly basis ranging from traditional studio areas and the fine crafts, to conceptual art and installation. Gallery programming supplements campus classroom instruction by bringing practicing artists to campus to demonstrate techniques in classes and by organizing special evening lectures and afternoon gallery talks. The gallery also functions as a hands-on teaching laboratory for students in the college’s course on museum studies.

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ARTICLE DATE: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2006
ARTICLE NUMBER: MC-007-06