(Posted November 22, 2004)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Two of Juniata College's most renowned faculty and well-known artists in their own right, potter Jack Troy and painter Alexander "Sandy" McBride, will be featured in the exhibition "Imagined Discoveries," which runs from Nov. 19 through Feb. 26 in the Juniata College Museum of Art.

Troy, a published poet, will give a poetry reading starting at 4:30 p.m. , Friday, Nov. 19 in the Juniata College Museum of Art, followed by an opening reception for the exhibition from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

Jack Troy, associate professor of art at Juniata, joined the faculty at Juniata in 1967. He started the now-celebrated ceramics program at the college a year later. He has been instrumental in reviving interest in salt-glazed ceramics, through many exhibitions and by writing the benchmark book on the subject, "Salt Glazed Ceramics."

He also wrote the standard book on creating in firing ceramics in wood-fired kilns, "Woodfired Stoneware and Porcelain." Troy was one of the first potters in the country to revive the use of the ancient Japanese anagama kiln and Juniata College was one of the first colleges in the country to construct an anagama. Troy has spread the word about the wood-firing process and has taught 178 workshops for ceramists in 14 countries over the past three decades.

Troy also is rightly celebrated as an influential artist and teacher. He has been invited to exhibit his work in more than 50 one-man shows across the country and internationally, and his works have been included in many regional and national ceramic and art exhibitions. He continues to publish essays and articles to a variety of ceramics journals and recently published a book of poetry "Calling the Planet Home." His work is in the permanent collection of many museums and galleries, including, the Smithsonian Institution, the William Penn Museum, New Zealand's Auckland Museum of Art, the Leningrad School of Arts and the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan.

Alexander "Sandy" McBride started his career at Juniata in 1970. He received his undergraduate education at the noted art school, the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1962. He received his master of fine arts from Cornell University in 1964.
As an artist, McBride considers himself an abstract expressionist and his work is in the permanent collections of Pepsico Headquarters in Purchase, N.Y. and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, Calif. McBride also has taught at such institutions as the Rhode Island School of Design, Nathaniel Hawthorne College and Green Mountain College.

He served as guest artist and lecturers at schools in China, Great Britain and Germany and toured Holland, Germany, Italy, France and England as part of a study grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has continued his education at New York's School of Visual Art and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. He also teaches the college's computer art and digital photography courses at Juniata.

McBride has had numerous one-person exhibitions and has been included in many group art exhibits, including shows at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, the Three Rivers Art Festival, Penn State University main campus, Wilkes College and the Pamlemousse Gallery in Chicago.
McBride was promoted to associate professor in 1978 and was named full professor in 1986. He served as chairman of the art department from 1970 to 1986.

The Juniata College Museum of Art is located in historic Carnegie Hall at 17th and Moore streets in Huntingdon. Museum hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. For more information, please call the museum at (814) 641-3505, or visit the Juniata College Web site at http://www.juniata.edu/museum.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.