Recital and Dinner Jan. 9 Celebrated Donations to the University of North Carolina Asheville

Recital and Dinner Jan. 9 Celebrated Donations to the University of North Carolina Asheville

ASHEVILLE, N.C., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The donation by June Lamb, of Asheville, of a ceramic mural created by renowned sculptor Joy Brown, and the loan of a concert grand piano to UNC Asheville by Denis B. Cooper, entrepreneur and CEO of Envisioncoop, LLC, of Leicester, North Carolina, was celebrated by Asheville area community members at a recital and dinner Tuesday, January 9, at the Reuter Center on the UNC Asheville campus. The event was open to the public.

June Lamb, who donated Joy Brown's "Currents," is an Asheville native who has returned to the area following her retirement. Denny Cooper, formerly of Connecticut, recently made North Carolina his primary home.

Hwa-Jin Kim, a UNC adjunct assistant professor of music, performed on the 9'4" Mason & Hamlin grand, which is on a two-year loan from Cooper to the university's Music Department.

"Currents" Joy Brown's three-dimensional wood-fired bas relief, 35 by 58 inches, is part of a larger body of work by Brown, a Connecticut sculptor, who was raised in Japan and returned there to study pottery and ceramics. Brown's work has been featured in one-person shows in New York, Tokyo, Paris and Bangkok. She recently completed a large wall mural commission for the Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, and another mural installed in Yodogawa Christian Hospital, Osaka, Japan. The mural donated to UNC Asheville may be seen at http://www.artwithin.net/joybrown/wr_642.html

Cooper was sponsor and host of the concert and dinner. Additional sponsors were The Counseling Center, Leicester, North Carolina, Sarah Gewanter, LCSW, director; Cooper Music, Atlanta, Georgia; Anderson Crane & Bridge of Atlanta, Georgia; and Nina Streitfeld, Inc., Westport, Connecticut.

"Asheville is at the center of a marvelous flowering of the arts in our area, and the university is a key part of this evolving creative environment," said Denny Cooper. "We hope that acknowledging this gift of Joy Brown's sculpture will inspire and encourage others to contribute to the exciting artistic growth of the university," Cooper said.

In discussing "Currents," artist Joy Brown said the following: "Since the beginning of time man has expressed the human spirit on the walls of his habitat and surroundings, from the ancient cave paintings of southern France and wall paintings of Egyptian tombs to the wood carvings on the doors of clay huts in Africa, whether to tell a story, to insure a successful hunt, as a symbol of power or to celebrate and uplift the human spirit. My murals contribute that human touch. The simple organic forms, conveying wonder or mystery and an essential optimism are in juxtaposition to the often geometric, angular and impersonal architecture around us. The rich warm tones of the natural clay resonate deep in our psyche. We remember that we are part of the earth and nature, part of this world of harmony and beauty."

Source: Envisioncoop, LLC

CONTACT: Nina Streitfeld, Nina Streitfeld, Inc., public relations, +1-
203-226-6454, mobile: +1-203-984-0703; or Envisioncoop, +1-203-803-0608

-------
Profile: intent