Saturday, April 7, from 5-7 pm at the Cedar Key Arts Center is the opening, the show will run through April.
Henry K Gernhardt, MFA from Syracuse University and Professor emeritus from Syracuse also, settled in Cedar Key in the early 2000s. Henry was a Fulbright scholar in Finland and won a Ford Grant to Japan. His glazes reflect both cultures.
Henry taught Art for 35 years, part time at the Brookfield Craft Center, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, School for American Craftsmen, Munson Williams Proctor, and full time at Syracuse University. Henry`s work is included in many publications, including Who`s Who in American Art; Survey of American Ceramics, RAKU; NewCeramics; and Perfect Pots; an international exhibition and accompanying publication. Henry`s work has been exhibited in more than 10 states. His present work evolves from a series of shield pieces and wall plates.
Throughout, the work maintains the quality of texture of the clay and the matte glazes which he has developed for his own use. Every shield piece records several histories, which include conception, design, material and firing. The pieces on display have a surface treatment of rust and scale from old coastal shipwrecks from Maine to Florida. The story begins with the formation of the flowing base carried over from the wave series. The transitional straight sides to the upper lip usually formed by the free flow of the clay. The designation "shield" represents a cross section of rock, earth, and water- the rise of the cliffs from the waters of Lake Superior.
KEVIN HIPE
I grew up in Boston and graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1970. Following graduation I taught Photo-silkscreen technique at the Museum School for a year. Then I went to work for Mayor Kevin White`s Office of Cultural Affairs in the "Summerthing" and "Jamboree" programs which brought entertainment and mobile arts learning centers into Boston`s 19 neighborhoods. In 1973-74 I did a year of graduate work where I won the Clarissa Bartlett Traveling Fellowship in Painting and also taught two semesters at Tuft`s University. My last three years in Boston I worked for the Education Collaborative as a lecturer for their "American Experience" program which brought inner-city and suburban teens together for an intense weeklong immersion into the cultural "scene" in Boston. 
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On March 8th, 1979 my wife and I arrived in Cedar Key in a 19 foot travel trailer to spend a month. We liked it so much we spent the next twelve years on that campsite. I worked as the Artist-in-Residence for the Levy County Commission for the next eighteen months. During that time Connie and I started the "Saturday Morning Art Class" which provided free art instruction to the children of Cedar Key for the next seven years in the space which is now the second floor of the library. In 1983 we opened the Suwannee Triangle Gallery on the Big Dock where we displayed our work for the next 22 years. We closed the gallery and "retired" in March of 2006. This exhibit of mine in the Member`s Gallery is work I began shortly after 9-11 and picked up in earnest after we retired. While the jeweled pieces pretty much speak for themselves, the collages are much more complex and were inspired by my mother`s love of quotations and her joy in the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. They began as vehicles for the quotations I heard growing up and evolved into visual poems about the people, events, and experiences of my life. | 
