Alumni artists display paintings, photo collages and ceramics, Feb. 4-March 14

Art exhibit: Jennifer Rohrer, painting and photo collage & Mark Nafziger, ceramics
Dates: Feb. 4 through March 14, 2007
Reception: Sunday, Feb. 4, 2007 from 2 to 4 p.m.
Location: Hershberger Art Gallery, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: Free and open to the public
Event sponsor: Goshen College Art Department
Web site: www.goshen.edu/art

GOSHEN, Ind. – Alumni artists Jennifer Rohrer, a 1993 Goshen College graduate, and Mark Nafziger, a 1981 Goshen College graduate, will display their paintings, photo collages and ceramics in Goshen College’s Hershberger Art Gallery from Feb. 4 to March 14, with an opening reception on Sunday, Feb. 4 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Rohrer is an artist and educator from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Nafziger is a self-employed potter working at Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio.

Rohrer’s paintings and collages reflect depth and personal meaning by layering acrylic paint, collaged papers, photographs, maps and natural materials. She grew up on a farm in Ohio, which instilled a connection with nature that she draws on.

After graduating from Goshen College, having studied studio art and art education, Rohrer taught middle school art for 10 years in Pittsburgh, Pa. In addition to time in the studio, she now teaches private art lessons, and works part time in reference and children’s programming services at the Cleveland Heights (Ohio) public library. Travel and study abroad influences Rohrer’s work with time spent in Italy, Costa Rica, Greece, Japan, Germany and Barcelona, Spain. In October 2002, she studied in Japan with a scholarship from the Fulbright Memorial Fund. She has shown her work at the Gingko Museum in Weimar, Germany. Rohrer’s Web site is: www.JenRohrer.com.

Nafziger never planned on being a potter. “I attended Goshen College with the original intent of being a math teacher,” he said. “In the course of my studies, I took an art class to fulfill one of my electives. Before long, I was exposed to clay and I became totally immersed. The form and decoration of my work often betrays my background in the study of mathematics.”

Nafziger established his business, Brush Creek Pottery, after graduation and has continued as a self-employed resident potter at the Sauder Village since. His ceramics have been featured in “Ceramics Monthly,” as well as on display in the Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, the Cincinnati (Ohio) Crafts Affair and the Pennsylvania Crafts Guild. He has also received numerous awards, including from the Ohio Designer Craftsmen.

The Hershberger Art Gallery, located in the Goshen College Music Center, is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, except during school vacations. The building is accessible to people using wheelchairs and others with physical limitations.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.