Back and forth

Ever been inspired to create something new from something old? It happens all the time and makes for an interesting exhibit theme.

The Center for Art in Wood, a gallery and educational resource in Philadelphia, is taking a new approach with its online “Flashback-Fast Forward” exhibit, which opened in July and runs through Oct. 21, featuring the work of more than 50 artists from the center’s 40-year history.

“Flashback-Fast Forward features work that each artist chose, one from a past center exhibition where they were included, and a newer piece as their ‘Fast Forward,’ ” executive director Albert LeCoff says.

“Each artist offers their thoughts on the older work and being included in a center exhibition and how the new piece reflects their evolving creative processes and technique. Some artists’ involvement spans almost the entire time since my very first show.”

LeCoff co-founded the center in 1976 with a series of wood turning symposiums. It had its first exhibition, “Turned Objects: The first North American turned object show,” in 1981.

The center became a non-profit in 1986 and relocated to the heart of Old City Philadelphia in 2011. It gets about 16,000 visitors per year.

Its mission is to honor and promote the work of not only makers and artists who create wood turned objects, but to include all artwork produced from wood and wood in conjunction with other materials.

Participating artists include Marilyn Campbell, Mark Del Guidice, Virginia Dotson, Tom Eckert, Todd Hoyer, Philip Moulthrop, Gord Peteran, Betty Scarpino, Mark Sfirri and Tommy Simpson.

For more, visit www.centerforartinwood.org.

This article originally appeared in the September 2016 issue.