Peter Evonuk Runs Workshops At Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Peter Evonuk, a spirited and talented jewelry and metalsmithing artist and studio manager at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, will offer specially-designed workshops at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Saturday Open Studios starting March. The open studio events will occur every Saturday, starting March, 17, and will continue through the end of May 2018.

Participants
in Evonuk’s workshops will explore the power of ordinary objects through
hands-on, creative experimentation with unique techniques and materials. The theme
“Objects of Power” coincides with the Museum’s current exhibition, Fra Angelico: Heaven on Earth, which
asks visitors to consider how artists use innovative strategies and splendid
materials to invest objects with
power; Additionally, the workshop is
informed by Isabella Stewart Gardner’s
practice of collecting objects of historical and personal significance. .

Throughout
his career, the Maui-born artist has worn many hats: farm boy, vacuum cleaner
salesman, appliance deliveryman, construction worker, roofer, and woodshop
supervisor. Now, a metalsmith, sculptor, teacher, and social satirist, he has
been selected as the Museum’s next Polly
Thayer Starr Artist Series visiting artist. Through his work, Evonuk aims
to explore human ingenuity and discovery through the redesign and subversion of
the ubiquitous utilitarian device. He holds a BFA in Sculpture/Metalsmithing
and Jewelry from the University of Oregon and an MFA in Metalsmithing from
Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Through
the Polly Thayer Starr Artist Series,
the Museum supports four artists in the Boston area by providing them with
opportunities to develop artistic experiences and engaging workshops for
visitors. The series allows artists to consider their work within the
rich cultural context of the Gardner Museum and the unique legacy of the
Museum’s founder, Isabella Stewart Gardner, through a structured three-month
collaboration period of thought, exploration, and workshop implementation.

The
artists design and implement curriculum for Saturday Open Studios and lead
hands-on activities at the Museum. Evonuk’s official collaboration with the
Gardner began in January and will conclude at the end of March while his public
Saturday Open Studio workshops will run every Saturday starting in March.

Open
studio events are included with Museum admission.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - a magical creation
of one woman's daring vision - invites you to awaken your senses and be
transported. Modeled after a Venetian palazzo, unforgettable galleries surround
a luminous courtyard and are home to masters such as Rembrandt, Raphael,
Titian, Michelangelo, Whistler, and Sargent. The Renzo Piano wing provides a
platform for contemporary artists, musicians, and scholars, and serves as an
innovative venue where creativity is celebrated in all of its forms.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum • 25 Evans Way Boston MA 02215 • Hours: Open Daily from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays until 9 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. • Admission: Adults $15; Seniors $12; Students $5; Free for members, children under 18, everyone on his/her birthday, and all named “Isabella” • $2 off admission with a same-day Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ticket • For information 617 566 1401 • Box Office 617 278 5156 • www.gardnermuseum.org