SSCC plans Oct. 18 artist reception for Roy Carpenter

An exhibition featuring artist Roy Carpenter is currently on display in the Learning Resources Center (LRC) of Southern State Community College's South Campus, 12681 U.S. Route 62, near Fincastle.

The exhibition will be available for viewing throughout fall semester and a meet-the-artist reception will be held 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, in the LRC. The event is free to the community and refreshments will be served.

Carpenter joined Southern State as an adjunct faculty member in fall of 2011, teaching a variety of fine art classes.

After high school and military service, Carpenter completed a B.F.A. at the University of Montana (Missoula) in 1981. A master of education degree in curriculum and instruction followed, eventually, in 1994, from Eastern Washington University.

"Earliest evidence of my interest in constructing 'things' are photographs of me stacking cans on the kitchen floor at the age of two, in Spokane, Wash.," said Carpenter. "Moving with my family to Montana in 1959, I expanded my horizons by seeing Burma Shave signs for the first time."

Throughout his adult life, Carpenter has worked as a professional studio artist, freelancer, and craftsman. As a glass artist, he co-founded Sapphire Stained Glass in 1974, in Missoula, Mont., and has worked in that medium ever since.

As a graphic designer and illustrator, Carpenter has worked for years with publishers and private clients in the areas of print design and production, art direction, illustrating and photography.

As a woodworker, he has completed many pieces, ranging from cabineture to dabbling in timber framing. As an artist, he continues to blend different media, according to a sense of what material or process will achieve the most successful result of an idea.

As a teacher, he believes the best approach to teaching is asking the question "What if..." and to coax students to explore uncharted waters. He also believes that practicing the discipline of any art form teaches us to think outside of conventional patterns, and positively affects our approach to life in general.

His one-man show at Southern State offers a retrospect of some of his earlier work and a glimpse of current work.

"As long as I can feel the same excitement about making stuff now, as I did stacking grocery cans, I'll keep doing it," he said.

For more information about the Roy Carpenter exhibition, please contact Carissa Thatcher, LRC manager, at 1-800-628-0307, ext. 3681, or cthatcher@sscc.edu.