FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW ORLEANS - On January 5, 2017 the Center for Southern Craft and Design (CSCD) at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art will present this season's artist spotlight, Ben Caldwell. Caldwell specializes in the creation of functional and timeless metalwork. His custom-hammered work, which is raised and chased by hand, results in one-of-a-kind pieces.

A classically trained painter and sculptor, Caldwell received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tufts University in Boston in 1991. He then continued his training at The Studio School of New York, Harvard University, and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In 1999 he quit his full-time job and began training with renowned metal artist Terry Tally, quickly finding an affinity for the craft, even inventing, designing, and building his own tools.

Caldwell, along with his wife Lael, he founded Ben & Lael, Inc. and began selling custom copper, silver, and enamel pieces inspired by natural shapes and forms that are often paired with pieces of bone or antler.

A recipient of the Tennessee Artist's Guild Emerging Artist of the Year award, his work has been exhibited at the Tennessee State Museum and in galleries across the country and Martha Stewart holds one of his copper ladles in her personal collection. He has been featured in Garden and Gun, Town and Country, Southern Living.

A reception celebrating the opening of the spotlight will take place on January 5, from 6 to 8pm during the Ogden's weekly entertainment series Ogden After Hours. Walter Wolfman Washington and the Roadmasters will perform.

About the CSCD:
The Center for Southern Craft and Design supports the Ogden Museum's mission to broaden the knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the visual arts and culture of the American South by offering talented Southern artisans and designers a platform from which to showcase and sell their work.
The Center hosts a quarterly Artist Spotlight series, which showcases leaders in craft fields including jewelry, ceramics, glassworks, woodworks, metalworks, and textiles, and highlights the important place of craft at the heart of Southern Art. This series allows visitors to fully engage with and learn about the featured artist and their craft, with works shown in both the Center and in the atrium casework within the Museum.

Since 2008, the Center has also presented the annual exhibition, Art of the Cup and Teapot Spotlight, featuring two cups by each of the selected Southern ceramicists, this exhibition celebrates the aesthetic and design freedom the ceramic medium offers to enhance everyday routine and highlights the diverse methods artisans use to blur the boundaries of form and function.

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Located in the vibrant Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art holds the largest collection of Southern art and is recognized for its original exhibitions, public events, and educational programs which examine the development of visual art alongside Southern traditions of music, literature, and culinary heritage to provide a comprehensive story of the South. Established in 1999 and in Stephen Goldring Hall since 2003, the Museum welcomes almost 80,000 visitors annually, and attracts diverse audiences through its broad range of programming including exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, and concerts which are all part of its mission to broaden the knowledge, understanding, interpretation, and appreciation of the visual arts and culture of the American South.

The Ogden Museum is open Wednesday through Monday from 10AM-5PM and also on Thursdays from 6-8PM for Ogden After Hours. Admission is free to Museum Members and $13.50 for adults, $11 for seniors 65 and older, $7.25 for children ages 5-17 and free for children under 5.

The Ogden Museum is free to Louisiana Residents on Thursdays from 10AM-5PM courtesy of The Helis Foundation. The Helis Foundation is a Louisiana private foundation, established by the William Helis Family. The Art Funds of the Helis Foundation advance access to the arts for the community through contributions that sustain operations for, provide free admission to, acquire works of art, and underwrite major exhibitions and projects of institutions within the Greater New Orleans area.

The Museum is closed Martin Luther King Day, Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day.

The Museum is located at 925 Camp Street, New Orleans Louisiana 70130. For more information visit ogdenmuseum.org or call 504-539-9650.