BUCKHANNON — ART26201 will present “THE THINGS WE CARRY,” a solo exhibition by artist Priscilla Roggenkamp, Friday, August 20, 2021, at the M.I.B. GALLERY in the Colonial Arts Center.

There will be a special opening artist’s reception from 4 to 8 p.m., and Roggenkamp will give a special introduction at 5 p.m. Reservations are recommended for Roggenkamp’s introduction, and they can be emailed to info@ART26201.com.

In addition to the opening event on August 20, the M.I.B. GALLERY will be open from 4-8 p.m. on August 21,
27, and 28; and September 3, 4, 10, and 11. All events at the M.I.B. GALLERY are free and open to the public. Significant financial assistance for the Colonial Arts Center Rehabilitation project has been provided by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History; ART26201; and Buckhannon Community Theatre.

About Priscilla Roggenkamp:

Priscilla Roggenkamp is an artist and teacher. She studied at Kent State University (M.F.A.), University of
Arkansas (M.Ed.), and Heidelberg College (B.A.), and she lives with her husband Rudy on a farm in Northeast
Ohio. She maintains a studio in downtown Alliance, Ohio, and teaches at Ashland University.

Teaching art is a consistent thread in Roggenkamp’s life. From school children to college students, she continues to be inspired by the process of working with others in creative and educational pursuits. Roggenkamp works in various media, including textile sculpture, painting, and printmaking. She is represented by Not Sheep Gallery in Columbus, Ohio, and recently received the Ohio Arts Council “Individual Excellence Award FY21” in sculpture.

Some highlights of Roggenkamp’s artistic journey are creating a site-specific sculpture in Akko, Israel; exploring textiles in Lodz, Poland; attending a residency at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine; creating a collaborative sculpture for Galion Hospital and one at Central Wyoming College; and curating several group exhibitions. She has shown her work in a variety of places, such as Chicago’s Woman Made Gallery, the Canton Museum of Art, the Brogan Museum in Florida, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Erie Art Museum, the Three Rivers Arts Festival, and internationally in The Western Galilee, Israel.

Artist’s Statement:

Working in the studio is a collaboration with and a tugging between ideas and materials. I form ideas, but so do my materials. I have skills and techniques to use, but my materials whisper ways they wish to go. I mediate the dialogue between us and hope to arrive at some place of agreement. If things go too smoothly, I may not be pushing hard enough. If they are impossible, I may be asking too much. Satisfaction comes in the arrival at a place of agreement and resolution.

In my textile sculptures, I am often asking the question, “What do we carry through life, and how does that
affect us?”

My sculptures often refer to functional forms used for carrying, such as buckets and luggage. These are containers to be filled and a means of transporting the practical “stuff” needed for many of life’s tasks. The works are often human in scale so that they feel familiar and relatable. But they are decidedly not wearable. With these artworks, I explore the ways in which we carry our loads—with grace, strength, and hope.