It might have been about 20 years ago that I attended my first NCECA conference, but it’s impact was so great that it’s memories stay with me still. I truly can’t think of a more valuable experience for an artist in our field than to be surrounded by thousands of artists, exceptional quality contemporary work and some of the best minds and critical theorists in our field, all in one place over the course of 5 days.
When I recently saw a Facebook post by students at my former alumni, The University of Regina, regarding an upcoming fundraiser to help get students to this year’s NCECA I was brought back to my school days of working alongside fellow students and Jack Sures in the studio, prepping pots, platters, mugs, you name it, for a hallway sale on campus to help get us to the conference. Jack was always so supportive of students and well aware of the importance of us attending events like this to expand our understanding of the potential of ceramics into a more global perspective.
Jack passed away earlier this year and when it happened I reflected a lot on the valuable lessons I’ve learned from him over the years. The most important one being the value of community, the need to support each other, and how those bonds can truly help us achieve much greater things then what we could accomplish on our own.
In that spirit of supporting a community I set out to find a way to help these students from the University of Regina to meet their fundraising goals and be able to attend the conference. My oldest son, Elliott (11 years old) wanted to help as well. The result is the t-shirt designs below which are available online as of today, with all the profits going to the University of Regina Ceramic Students Society. Support students within our community by purchasing a shirt, and proclaim your love of ceramics to the world! : )
Full range of sizes and colors are available as print on demand here: caroleepp.threadless.com
Thank you!
xoxo Carole
