In honor of Women’s History Month, the March First Friday exhibition at the Coffee and Tea Room in Williamsport will feature the work of women artists in an exhibition titled “Celebrate Women!” Ten professional artists were invited to participate and 10 Lycoming College art students were invited to submit work to be juried for the exhibit, which will be on display March 6-31. An artists’ receptio n is scheduled for Friday, March 7 from 6-9 p.m., featuring a performance by electric violinist Ritsu Katsumata.

The exhibition is a reunion for a core group of artists who exhibited together three years ago in “An Empty Place at the Table” exhibition at the Taber Museum. The exhibition honored victims of domestic violence and raised funds for Wise Options. Lynn Estomin, an associate professor of art at Lycoming, coordinated both exhibitions.

Katsumata was raised in Nara, Japan, and Philadelphia. After earning a degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania, she lived and worked in New York City; Portland, Ore.; Tokyo, Japan; Ithaca, N.Y.; and Lewisburg, Pa. As a classical violinist, Ritsu performed from childhood at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Smithsonian Institute and the Philadelphia Academy of Music. In 1994, she traded in the acoustic instrument for an electric five-string violin and began composing and performing her own music at rock and roll clubs like CBGB’s as well as venerable institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Seattle Opera House. Today, she balances her performance schedule with her position as a multimedia designer/Web developer at Bucknell University.

The following professional visual artists are participating in “Celebrate Women!”:

Luana Cleveland is a longtime artist residing in Williamsport. She works in many different media depending upon the season. Presently, she is using watercolor and pastel as well as quilting with a group of women in the city.

Lynn Estomin is a videographer, photographer and computer artist who has been producing art about women for more than 25 years. Her award-winning video documentaries have been exhibited at film festivals internationally and broadcast nationally on PBS. Her still photography and digital images have been exhibited internationally. Estomin teaches photography and digital art at Lycoming.

Ricki Moler experiments with many mediums, but the tactile and color-saturated nature of fabrics is her favorite for both wall and wearable art. Her quilts incorporate drawing, painting, hand-dyed fabric and many techniques not commonly associated with quilting. Mohler served as executive director of the Williamsport-Lycoming Arts Council. She is a juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and was the state’s representative to the International Surface Design Association.

Camille Orelli, a 2002 Lycoming graduate, is a fiber artist living in Williamsport. In 2004, she studied weaving and surface design at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. Camille’s fiber pieces can be seen in Eagles Mere, Philadelphia and most often at Trimtex Mill Store in downtown Williamsport. When she’s not stitching or weaving, Camille is a photo editor for Terry Wild Stock, Inc.

Leah Bedrosian Peterson is a New York/Pennsylvania-based multi-media artist who works in digital media as well as the more traditional mediums. She is assistant professor and director of digital media at Lycoming.

Meredith Rishel is a recent Lycoming photography graduate who is building a darkroom, taking photographs, serving at the Coffee and Tea Room and contemplating her future plans.

Kim Rhone is an interdisciplinary artist who works in photography, digital media and installation. She teaches photography at Lycoming and the Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Paula Swett is a fiber artist with a passion for color, texture and patterns. Swett’s early creations were often narrative, threading together significant stories and life passages. Her current body of work, however, is far more lyrical. Patterns of everyday life, nature’s textures and the rich colors she hand-dyes coalesce into works that are as much poetry as they are fiber art. Swett has been showcased in galleries and quilt exhibitions nationwide and the American Quilter’s Society has featured her. She initiated the Carrie’s Quilt Project for breast cancer awareness and helped local students create and send 19 quilts to the families of 9/11 firefighters.

Kristina Snook-Kohr is an artist proactively residing with her family in the Flatiron District of the city. She evangelically delights in the domestic arts. With her apron still securely in place, she begins painting, knitting, sewing or making marks with pencils. Her art reflects the practice of rising up to create aesthetically pleasing comfortable places for people to live.

Andrea McDonough Varner is a native of Baltimore and now lives in Williamsport. Andrea is a mother, painter and art educator working for a local school district and volunteering for local art programs. Currently experimenting with collage techniques, she is most comfortable with oils and mixed media works.

The following are Lycoming student artists participating in “Celebrate Women!”:

Kendra Billman is a Williamsport native and an art major, seeking certification to teach art K-12.

Rachel Espinosa is a commercial design and photography major. She is currently participating in a “Broken Telephone” project that will be exhibited at The University of Boulder in Colorado, Lycoming College and internationally at The Art Institute of Medellin in Colombia.

Jenna Klaue, originally from the State College area, is a double major in psychology and art with a focus on sculpture. She works with various mediums including clay, wood, stone and metal.

Amanda Kline was born in Reading, Pa., and currently lives with her dad and brother in Strausstown, Pa. She will graduate in May of 2008 with a photography major and a business minor.

Brittany Lytle is a senior with a concentration in painting. Her current work revolves around processes, choices and the unique activities of the people of Williamsport.

Liz Runyan is a senior with majors in sculpture and art education. She is from Bloomsburg, Pa., and is student-teaching in the Williamsport-area.

Mallory Sagle is a double major in photography and graphic design. Her photographs in the exhibition are from a collection that celebrates the woman’s body and her beauty, a recurring theme in her work.

Samantha Saltzer is a photography and creative writing double major whose work explores the relationship between the individual and the environment, solitude and society.

Chasety Starr is from Williamsport and a senior sculpture major. Her work contemplates societal concerns and culture, discussing the ways in which we perceive importance in life.

Krista Storm, originally from Michigan, is a senior art generalist major. She previously earned a degree in business administration, but after a lifetime of drawing and painting, decided to pursue art seriously three years ago. Working primarily in oil, watercolor and charcoal, her focus has been on the nature of identity through self-portrait.

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