Topic: Olen Bryant

Customs House stages world-class exhibit with Olen Bryant retrospective

By Christine Anne Piesyk | September 16, 2007 |

Hundreds of friends and fans came to the Customs House Museum Saturday evening for the opening celebration of Olen Bryant: A Retrospective, a world class exhibit of ceramic, wood and stone sculpture, a sampling of Bryant’s work from the early 1950’s to the present.

A Tennessee native and Professor Emeritus of Art at Austin Peay State University, Bryant was introduced to Saturday’s crowd as “an educator, mentor and humanitarian of the first order,” one who has guided and prodded his students to “find their voices” even as he continued his quest to develop and expand his own.

Meandering through the crowds, one could hear the comments of friends, of art lovers, watch them inhaling in awe at the beauty and substance of this work. In an era where art is displayed but art lovers are kept at safe distances, the Customs House exhibit was presented in a manner that invited touch, that invited close inspection of the most minute detail of each piece, be it a small “sleeping stone” or a majestic chair with outstretched arms. The art itself invited it. «Read the rest of this article»

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Olen Bryant: A Retrospective showcased at Custom House Museum

By Debbie Boen | September 12, 2007 |

“…He has a magic touch that wakes up the wood he’s carving or pours life into the ceramics that he’s molding…”

Olen Bryant: A Retrospective opens at the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center on North Second Street on Saturday, September 15, featuring the best of Bryant’s work. The exhibit will run through December 31, with an opening reception scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m.

Bryant received the Distinguished Artist Award from Governor Phil Bredesen during a special ceremony celebrating the Governor’s Awards in the Arts at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville in March, 2007. He is a well-known sculptor and educator and has received national recognition for his work. «Read the rest of this article»

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