Main Line Art Center embraces the future with Atmospheric, an exhibition of installation works running October 19 through November 13.  Atmospheric marks the Art Center’s curatorial debut of Executive Director Amie Potsic and the Center’s first Installation Exhibition in nearly 10 years.  The exhibition features the work of artists Delainey Barclay, Maureen Ciaccio, and Dianne Koppisch Hricko, members of InLiquid, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit creating opportunities and exposure for visual artists and serving as a resource for arts information for the public.

Transforming the Art Center’s galleries into experiential environments, the installation works in this exhibition are inspired by atmospheric phenomena, nature, and humanity.  Dianne Koppisch Hricko’s installation explores the winter landscape and change of seasons through the translucent depth of a silk forest.  Delainey Barclay’s installation works utilize approachable materials such as paper, fibers, and books to transform space and illuminate the qualities of air, light, and shadow.  Pairing elements of nature with references to human inventions such as maps, Maureen Ciaccio’s installations are based on the reciprocal nature of social and geological structures.  Together, the three artists’ works create atmospheric worlds that communicate complexity, fragility, and beauty.

Main Line Art Center will host a free opening reception on Friday, October 19 from 6 to 9 pm.  The public is invited to come meet the artists and hear plans for the Art Center’s site transformation scheduled for the Spring of 2013.  Gallery hours for the exhibition are Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 8 pm and Friday through Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm.  A Members-Only Artist Talk, moderated by Amie Potsic, will take place at Main Line Art Center on Thursday, November 1 from 7 to 9 pm.  The talk will be open to Members of the Art Center and InLiquid (new Members welcome).  Members of the Art Center and InLiquid can RSVP for the free talk to Rafael Dueño at 610.525.0272 ext. 12 or rdueno@mainlineart.org. 

Delainey Barclay is an oil painter and installation artist based in Wilmington, DE.  Since receiving a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, she has maintained a working studio, currently in the Trolley Square area of Wilmington. She is also a founder of Project Space, an artist run gallery, installation lounge, and studio space.  In 2011 Barclay received a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts in visual arts for painting.  She has recently had solo exhibits at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts and at the Mezzanine Gallery, both in Wilmington.

Maureen Ciaccio is an installation artist who recently relocated to the Boston area from Philadelphia.  She received her BFA from the State University of New York, College at Purchase and her MFA from the University of Arizona. Her drawings and installations have been exhibited in museums and art spaces throughout the Mid-Atlantic region as well as in Ohio and Arizona, including the Painted Bride Art Center (Philadelphia), the Noyes Museum of Art (Oceanville, NJ), the Biggs Museum of American Art (Dover, DE), and the Tower Fine Arts Center at SUNY (Brockport, NY). Ciaccio has received notable awards including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts and a New Forms Regional Grant from the Painted Bride Art Center, funded by the PA Council on the Arts, the NEA, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Dianne Koppisch Hricko is a printmaker/painter with a studio in Philadelphia, currently working with fiber-reactive dyes on silk. Currently an Adjunct Assistant Faculty Member at the University of the Arts, Hricko has held faculty appointments at Tyler School of Art, Rosemont College and Upper Darby High School. For her Master’s Equivalent and 60 plus hours of graduate work in Education, Fine Arts and Design, she has studied at The University of the Arts, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Haystack School of Art, Art New England, and the Delaware County Intermediate Unit.  Most recently, her work has been included in exhibitions at Gravers Lane Gallery (Philadelphia), Crane Arts (Philadelphia), and Artworks (Trenton, NJ).

Amie Potsic began her tenure as Executive Director of Main Line Art Center at the end of July.  Most recently she served as Director of the Career Development Program at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA) in Philadelphia where she curated exhibitions and planned professional development programming for emerging and professional artists. Potsic has curated over 70 exhibitions at venues including The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Moore College of Art & Design. Potsic is also an established photographic artist who has exhibited her work nationally and internationally.  In addition, she is currently Chair of the Art In City Hall Artistic Advisory Board to the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture & the Creative Economy.

For 75 years, Main Line Art Center in Haverford has served as the creative home for generations of community members of all ages, levels and abilities. Its mission is to inspire and engage artistic creativity for all ages and abilities and to celebrate and strengthen the essential role of visual art in community life.  Each year the Art Center educates nearly 5,000 people through its art classes, outreach programs, lectures, and art camp.  In keeping with its mission, Main Line Art Center pioneers a unique series of outreach programs for children and adults with developmental and physical disabilities, and grants $12,000 in need-based scholarships annually.  The Art Center has built a reputation for presenting innovative, thought-provoking exhibitions, while also presenting exhibitions that celebrate community. We offer up to ten annual exhibitions, including seasonal fine crafts shows, in our beautiful, spacious gallery. These exhibitions feature the work of emerging and established artists from across the Mid-Atlantic Region and attract over 10,000 visitors each year.

InLiquid is a nonprofit membership organization based in Philadelphia, dedicated to providing opportunities and exposure for visual artists and designers, serving as a free public hub for arts information and resources, and making the visual arts more accessible to a broader audience through a continuing series of community-based art exhibitions and programs.

Main Line Art Center is located at 746 Panmure Road in Haverford, behind the Wilkie Lexus dealership just off of Lancaster Avenue. The Art Center is easily accessible from public transportation and offers abundant free parking. For more information about Atmospheric, please visit www.mainlineart.org or call 610.525.0272.