UA studio graduate student Francesca Baldarelli’s art work will be included in the 
group exhibition, Clay Review 3, at the Abernathy Arts Center in Sandy Springs, GA, opening January 27 and running through February 23, 2017. There will be a closing reception for the exhibition on Thursday, February 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Abernathy Arts Center Arts Program Specialist Alex Kerr invited her to be part of the show. Kerr said, “Checa’s work was chosen for inclusion in Clay Review 3 because it represents a shift from the traditional handling and execution of ceramic work. I was most interested in how she uses ceramic elements as components of a larger mixed media sculpture.”
Baldarelli elaborated, “The pieces in the exhibition stem from my printmaking sensibilities. I have taken my printmaking on paper and transferred it to clay. I also screen printed glazed elements and pieces of actual prints, and some of the clay pieces are made from relief block impression. All the work is the result of playing, mixing and matching different materials to create a small installation piece.”
In its third year, Clay Review is an annual invitational survey of contemporary ceramic works. Clay Review 3 includes artists approaching ceramics from a variety of methods ranging from wood firing to video work. Invited artists were asked to include work that showcased their ability to manipulate traditional means to their contemporary ends.
Francesca Baldarelli is a graduate student in printmaking with an assistantship. She currently teaches Introduction to Printmaking and assists in Color Theory. She has assisted in Drawing II and Intro to Printmaking. She will present her MA thesis exhibition in February 2017 at the Sella-Granata Art Gallery on UA campus. Baldarelli received the BFA, cum laude, in painting and printmaking from Youngstown State University in 2012. She attended the Chautauqua Institution School of Art in Chautauqua, NY, in 2014 and the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice in 2010. She received a UA College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Council Fellowship in 2015, the CISA Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institute Scholarship in 2014. At YSU, Baldarelli received a four-year American Legion Auxiliary Scholarship, a Study Abroad Grant, Venice, Italy, in 2010 and the Student Art Association Painting Award in 2009.
For more information about the graduate programs in art at The University of Alabama, please go to: https://art.ua.edu/academics/graduate-programs/.