RELEASED: June 25, 2009

DANVILLE, KY—World-renowned glass artist Stephen Powell '74, Stodghill Professor of Art at Centre College, was the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the Governor’s School for the Arts. GSA is a three-week program of in-depth instruction in one of nine disciplines (architecture, creative writing, dance, drama, instrumental music, musical theater, new media, visual art and vocal music). Powell told the 225 rising high school juniors and seniors, “You’ve been chosen to be here because you’ve shown extraordinary potential in the arts. [Now] you have to find a way to work that matches your personality.” The students were selected from more than 1,600 applicants from across the state to attend the summer program at Transylvania University.

While Powell is known internationally as an artist whose unique works garner wide acclaim, he is also a hard-working, down-to-earth teacher who has shaped Centre’s offerings in art. Powell was hired by Centre College in 1983 to teach ceramics and sculpture, and by 1985, he had built a glass studio and founded Centre's incomparable and invaluable glass program, which now draws in students from all over the world.

In 1997, Powell designed and completed a new, state-of-the-art glass studio, which Centre opened as part of the Jones Visual Arts Center in 1998. The new art facility has also been host to big-name visiting artists from all across the globe such as Lino Tagliapietra, Nancy Callan, Richard Jolley, Dante Marioni, Katherine Gray and Jose Chardiet. Powell has also worked and taught in Russia, Australia, and Italy, and his large and brilliantly colored vessels are in public and private collections on four continents.

Powell was named the 1999 and 2000 Kentucky Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He was also selected Best Visual Artist by the readers of Kentucky Monthly in their annual Kentucky's Best survey in 2005. Powell has been featured on CBS-TV's Sunday Morning and Kentucky Educational Television and in print media including American Style, Glass, and Ceramics Monthly. Kentucky Monthly named him one of Kentucky's top 20 artists of the 20th century. He has demonstrated his technique around the country, including at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.