Tammy Garcia

Media contact: Beth Manwaring, Marketing and Communications Specialist 607.974.4254 manwaringb@rockwellmuseum.org

If you'd like additional materials or would like to be added to the Museum's media list, please sign up here.

TAMMY GARCIA'S ONE-WOMAN SHOW OPENS AT ROCKWELL MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART ON MAY 23, 2009

CORNING, NY-The Rockwell Museum of Western Art is pleased to announce a summer 2009 special exhibition of Tammy Garcia's work. "Visions Beyond Clay: The Artwork of Tammy Garcia" opens May 23, 2009, and runs through October 4, 2009. The one-woman show will feature 20 to 25 of Garcia's groundbreaking glass sculptures, which blend Native American symbolism and iconography with cutting-edge, contemporary forms and designs. The exhibition will showcase a number of Garcia's monumental bronze works as well, illustrating the broad range of her talent in a variety of media and her ability to translate the ancient images of her Pueblo Indian heritage and other Native cultures into a contemporary artistic idiom.

There are a number of reasons that makes this show extraordinary. Below are just a few highlights:

• Never before has any single exhibition of Garcia's artwork showcased an impressive 16- piece collection of monumental sculpture.

• Especially for this show, Garcia will introduce her newest vision: wall-mounted fused panels incorporating a variety of colors. The panels, ranging from 5' x 5' to 4'' x 12' to 2' x 8', are combined in groups of four, eight and nine to form large wall installations that glow with color and cast intricate shadows, adding an intriguing dimensional quality to the work.

• The Rockwell Museum of Western Art is nestled in Corning's historic downtown, named appropriately the "Gaffer District" because of the city's rich history of glass-making. Corning, NY is coined the "Crystal City" and has a long history of glass and glass-making.

Among the sculptures will be Garcia's acclaimed blown-glass vessels-luminous, color-filled pieces that are at once fragile and powerful. Also on display will be her sandblasted clear-glass panels, another innovation in glass art that marries Native American symbolism with a contemporary aesthetic.

"The museum became familiar with Garcia's work last year when we exhibited a private collection of Pueblo pottery," says Sheila K. Hoffman, Rockwell's curator of collections. "One of the crowning jewels of that show was a recent commission by Tammy Garcia, and we were impressed to discover her work in bronze and glass as well. We wanted to highlight her modern take on Western glass in conjunction with the 39th Annual Conference of the Glass Art Society, which takes place June 11-13 in Corning. She's gone beyond merely translating the elements of Pueblo pottery into new media-she's creating a whole new means of expression."

"I love working in glass because of the inherent challenges and risks of such a fragile medium," says Garcia. "The color choices are limitless, and I'm always looking for new ways to express my artistic vision."

For more information on the museum exhibition, visit www.rockwellmuseum.org.

About Blue Rain Gallery

Blue Rain Gallery is committed to promoting work of the finest contemporary and regional artists. The gallery features an extraordinary collection of pottery, paintings, sculpture and bronze, glass art, kachinas, and jewelry. Blue Rain Gallery is located at 130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite D, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501. Phone 505-954-9902. For more information, visit the Blue Rain Gallery website at www.blueraingallery.com .

About the Rockwell Museum of Western Art

In these tough economic times, we recognize that the concept of "community" means so much. In response, we are offering free admission on Sundays now through the end of March 2009. We invite you, our community, to the Museum and to be inspired by our vision, collections and programs. Kids & Teens are always FREE (19 & under).

Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Rockwell Museum of Western Art is located in the center of the Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York Sate and in the heart of Corning's Gaffer District. The Museum is open to the public seven days a week; hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. May 18, 2009, the Museum will begin summer hours, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. every day through Labor Day. Membership to the Museum includes yearlong free admission.

-30-