Bob Deane Mid-Career Retrospective exhibition Sept. 13 – Oct. 16, 2013

Article on the show in the Delco Daily Times News Network

Click to see a 2015 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that features Bob Deane:

Slices of Life In Media, PA

Other articles on Bob and his work:

Finding the Stuff of Art in a Muddy Creek

Abstract Art on the Brain from the News of Delaware County

Empty bowls full of dreams for Widener students, prez.

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos – Upper Darby, PA) – Tuesday, January 19, 2010. Author: AMY BRISSON ; abrisson@delcotimes.com

CHESTER — It’s a dirty job, but volunteers at Widener University were happy to do it.

More than 150 participants came out on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to get their hands covered in clay and create handmade bowls to benefit relief efforts in Haiti.

“This is quite a new experience for me,” said Widener junior Alison Whartenby, after she coaxed her slab of clay out of a mold and began decorating it. “But it’s going towards Haiti and that’s really important, especially now. I wanted to do something to help.”

Widener partnered with the Community Arts Center, based in the Wallingford section of Nether Providence, to make and sell handmade bowls for the Empty Bowls Project, an international effort to end hunger.

Community Arts Center instructors showed volunteers of every age how to roll out and shape bowls out of clay , and even gave demonstrations on an electric potter’s wheel.

The bowls will be glazed and fired at the center, then brought back to Widener for a luncheon and sale on Feb. 18. The bowls — filled with hot soup donated by Aramark Food Services — will be sold for a $10 donation toward a to-be-determined Haiti relief organization.

“If Martin Luther King were alive today, he’d be focusing his attention on those in need and the issue of hunger,” said Widener President James T. Harris III, who also came to try his hand at making bowls. “It’s inspiring to see my students, faculty and colleagues come out for a project that will directly address the issue of poverty.”

But the project had other benefits. Organizers said it was about bringing people from across the community together, to get out of their comfort zones and create a little art.

“It gives a lot of people, who might not be familiar with clay, a time to create,” said Bob Deane , a teacher at the Community Arts Center. “Everybody is an equal here. Almost nobody who has volunteered today has done clay before, so your age or your profession, that’s all moot.”

The Empty Bowls Project will be followed up by Widener’s annual celebration of King’s life tonight, hosted by the Black Student Union. The event will include performances by the Widener and Chester High School gospel choirs, the PRAISE dance group and a variety of spoken word and dance performances.

The commemorative service will be held at 7 tonight, at the Widener University Alumni Auditorium, East 14th Street, Chester.

The bowls will be available for sale at a luncheon held from noon-2 p.m. Feb. 18, at Widener’s Lathem Hall, 13th and Potter streets, Chester.

Little shop of Treasures

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos – Upper Darby, PA) – Friday, November 21, 2003. Author: LOIS PUGLIONESI ; Times Correspondent

If crowded malls make your head spin and you prefer gifts with a more personal touch, try this on for size… Delaware County is home to unique galleries, gift shops and museum stores where truly one-of-a-kind items are available, hand-made and with heart, by local as well as international artists and craftspeople.

Even harried holiday shoppers can experience glimmerings of fun while exploring the more creative retail route. And by following your imagination you’ll be supporting local entrepreneurs trying to offer something different.

Many of these unique shops are in the county’s quaint towns of Media, Haverford, Swarthmore and Chadds Ford, all of which offer a pleasant alternative to the crowded malls….

Artistic flair in Havertown

* “I can’t believe this wonderful little place is in Havertown on an industrial street. It’s like a little gem,” said Pam Cohen, a frequent shopper at Tyme Gallery.

The three-story studio features oil paintings, watercolors, Raku sculpture, ceramics, pastels, painted furniture, photography, stained glass, hand blown glass and custom jewelry that are sure to get noticed. Consider the neon art by Eve Hoyt, made from hand-blown colored glass tubing filled with neon that radiates a warm glow. You won’t have to change a light bulb for up to 25 years!

…The new pottery show, open through Dec. 27, highlights artists from the Community Art Center in Wallingford. Tyme’s main potter, Bob Deane , teaches at CAC and personally selected pieces from his students’ best work. Shelves are lined with a wide variety of interesting objects — both decorative and functional, in traditional and contemporary styles.

Porcelain bowls, a hand-made cookie jar decorated with scenes from the four seasons, a sculptural jar in the form of a toad, smokey-finished raku vases and decorative plates with multi-colored layered glazes make exceptional gifts. And with prices ranging from $10-$400, there’s something for every pocketbook.

A child might enjoy the hand-made miniature ceramic tea set, personalized upon request. In addition to being a nifty art gallery, Tyme is also a woman-owned business. Founder Edna Davis, a former social worker, saw the need for a gallery that was “consumer and artist friendly.”

After taking a few classes at the Women’s Business Development Center, Davis cashed in her pension and opened the gallery in 1997.

Tyme Gallery [update in 2013 – this gallery has closed] is located at 17 W. Eagle Rd., Havertown. Call (610) 853-1215 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (610) 853-1215 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Tyler Arboretum ‘s 16 treehouses rise on the strength of their builders’ imaginations

Morning Call, The (Allentown, PA) – Sunday, April 20, 2008. Author: Diane Stoneback OF The Morning Call.

Tyler Arboretum also will feature a special treehouse exhibition, “Totally Terrific Treehouses: Where Imagination Goes Out On a Limb” which will run May 31 to Sept. 28.

Similar, yet different from Longwood’s three treehouses, the 16 treehouses being built on the grounds at Tyler have been designed and are being constructed by local artists and contractors.

Although some will enable visitors to climb up into the trees and experience the houses, other houses will be whimsical takes on different kinds of tree houses.

The arboretum , at 515 Painter Road, Middletown Township, Delaware County, is open daily except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hours vary with the season, so it is best to check the Web site (www.tylerarboretum.org) or call 610-566-0134 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 610-566-0134 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Admission is $5 for visitors ages 16 and older and $3 for children ages 3 to 15. Children under 3 are free.

Here are descriptions of the houses that are now under construction and being readied for the Tyler exhibition… (An excerpt about Bob Dean’e’s tree house]

HOBBIT HOUSE

Memories of childhood days exploring the woods and imagining the secret creatures who lived there inspired potter Bob Deane to design a home by the stump of a fallen tree. “I wanted to build a little place for everyone to fantasize about magical creatures that live beneath trees,” he said. Made with 1,400 pounds of local clay, the house will stand 5 feet tall and require numerous firings. Deane will harvest the clay from local creek banks and excavation sites.

Diane Stoneback

Caption: THE BIRCH HOUSE being constructed at Tyler Arboretum near Media shows in artist’s rendering how people can go from tree to tree. Photo Courtesy of Tyler Arboretum

Edition: SECOND; Section: Travel; Page: F2. Index Terms: TRAVEL ; TYLER ARBORETUM ; TREEHOUSE ; EXHIBIT ; CONSUMER ; RECREATION. Record Number: MERLIN_4054331. Copyright (c) 2008, The Morning Call, Inc.

Fans flock to Folk Fest

News of Delaware County (PA) – Wednesday, August 27, 2008. Author: Bill Donohue; Correspondent

…. “Oh, I thought Fest was real and the rest of the year was make believe” read a T-shirt for sale a the 47th annual Philadelphia Folk Fest. At the Old Pool Farm in Schwenksville recently, people from all over gathered to celebrate the end of summer, listen to a plethora of music, and lose themselves in the experience while coming together with those in attendance.

A theme of this year’s fest was to mix older and younger performers to bring folk music, and its many off-shoots, to a younger generation. The female trio Red Molly found this amusing as they quoted a newspaper article that read, “Frankly, we are hoping for fisticuffs. This year’s Philly Folk Fest mixes young whippersnapper’s with old folk beards new-school hotties Red Molly cat fighting with old-school hottie Judy Collins.”…

Also experiencing their first Fest in an attempt to branch out are Media based artisans from Living Earth Potters on State Street.

“Bob Deane and I have done a lot of the outdoor festivals in Media when they close down [State] street,” said Sage Kelsey, who assists children in making clay animals.

Bob Deane and Arthur Sauerhaft, of Chester, who was often seen at Fest sitting at the potter’s wheel, want to show people what can be created from materials found in local backyards.

“Bob digs his own clay out of local creeks,” explains Kelsey. “This [booth at Fest] is a new beginning for Living Earth Potters as they try to get people to understand that they get the clay out your backyard then you’re able to eat out of it.”

Caption: Photo by Laurie Stewart At the fest was Jake Shimabukura.

HINDA SCHUMAN / Inquirer Suburban Staff Potter Bob Deane , 37, brings up a handful of clay from the depths of a Crum Creek bywater, while John Blanchet, 23, digs for more. Deane often gathers fellow artists to search local streams and ponds for native clay.

Memo: A Tale Of . . . Shades of Clay