Vessels of the Heart: Fairbanks at Arabia / Cushing and Salmenhaara at Alfred April 17, 2011

Featuring work by three talented ceramicists - two American and one Finnish--this exhibition, organized by the Nordic Heritage Museum, chronicles currents of cultural exchange between artists in Finland and the United States in the early part of the second half of the twentieth century. The exhibition explores the work of Washington ceramicist Richard Fairbanks (1927-1989) and of his Nordic counterparts during the artist's Fulbright year in Finland (1959-1960) and throughout his career. Through ceramics, photographs, and journal excerpts, Fairbanks' enduring friendship with his famed colleague Kyllikki Salmenhaara (1915-1981)--and Salmenhaara's own period of work in the United States, notably with Alfred University professor Val Cushing (b. 1931)--enriches our understanding of artistic dialogues between North America and Scandinavia.