resisters: Women in Clay Invitational @ Workhouse Arts Center – now online

Concurrent with the NCECA 2020 conference theme of Multi(VA)lent: Clay, Mindfulness, Memory, resisters presents a dynamic presentation of contemporary ceramic artwork by women artists from the state of Virginia. The exhibition connects and addresses themes of memory by focusing on the works of women in alignment with an important historical marker of the Workhouse site – the women’s suffragists movement.

The group show includes 19 artists and 37 pieces and considers the methods in which artists use clay to explore ideas of potency, power and unity. The exhibition is on view March 14 – May 10, 2020 in the Vulcan and Vulcan Muse Galleries at Workhouse Arts Center.

Due to the statewide closures from the Coronavirus outbreak, we have put this exhibit online! Enjoy the virtual exhibit, artist studio talks and artist statements HERE.

Nick Cave and the Red Hand Files – a good read for artists.

“Why is this the time to get creative?

Together we have stepped into history and are now living inside an event unprecedented in our lifetime. Every day the news provides us with dizzying information that a few weeks before would have been unthinkable. What deranged and divided us a month ago seems, at best, an embarrassment from an idle and privileged time. We have become eyewitnesses to a catastrophe that we are seeing unfold from the inside out. We are forced to isolate — to be vigilant, to be quiet, to watch and contemplate the possible implosion of our civilisation in real time. When we eventually step clear of this moment we will have discovered things about our leaders, our societal systems, our friends, our enemies and most of all, ourselves. We will know something of our resilience, our capacity for forgiveness, and our mutual vulnerability. Perhaps, it is a time to pay attention, to be mindful, to be observant.

As an artist, it feels inapt to miss this extraordinary moment. Suddenly, the acts of writing a novel, or a screenplay or a series of songs seem like indulgences from a bygone era. For me, this is not a time to be buried in the business of creating. It is a time to take a backseat and use this opportunity to reflect on exactly what our function is — what we, as artists, are for.” – Nick Cave

Read the whole post HERE.

call for artists: Warren MacKenzie Advancement Award

2018 Warren MacKenzie Advancement Award Recipient, Isaac Logsdon

2018 Warren MacKenzie Advancement Award Recipient, Isaac Logsdon

The Warren MacKenzie Advancement Award (WMAA), founded in 2014, provides an opportunity for students and emerging artists to continue their ceramic research and education for a period of up to twelve consecutive months within the grant year, further expanding their professional development. This award is available to current undergraduate or graduate students, recent graduates (within one year), or those who have completed a university-equivalent training in ceramics (including apprenticeships) within the year prior to the application deadline.

During the grant year, the recipients can research a new technique or process, study with a mentor or in an apprenticeship setting, travel to other ceramic art centers or institutions for classes and workshops, collaborate with artists of another media, and travel. Proposals to fund large capital equipment purchases will not be accepted. One or two cash awards will be made in 2020, up to $3,000 each, for projects taking place between May 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021. Recipients contribute project updates to NCC’s social media and are required to give a public presentation at their school or other institution. See updates from past recipients at northernclaycenter.blogspot.com.

This award is made possible through the support of generous individual and institutional donors in honor of MacKenzie’s legacy of ceramic education, both traditional and non-traditional.

The deadline for the Warren MacKenzie Advancement Award application is Friday, April 17, 2020, by 5 pm.

Find out more and apply here: https://www.northernclaycenter.org/artist-services/artist-grants/warren-mackenzie-advancement-award

movie day: Randy Johnston | An Expansive Vision – feature film about American potter | GOLDMARK

Our documentary tells the story of one of America’s most respected studio potters, Randy Johnston. Set against the backdrop of his picturesque Wisconsin studio, it gives a revealing and moving insight into his artistic journey. Kicking against his family’s desire for him to become a doctor, Johnston tells of his early travels to Japan, meeting the great Shoji Hamada and apprenticing to National Living Treasure, Tatsuzo Shimaoka. We are also taken on a visit to the Minnesotan studio of his lifelong mentor and friend, 94 year old American legend, Warren MacKenzie. A deep thinker, Johnston talks about his approach to his working practice and his philosophy on art and teaching.

Having studied with Warren MacKenzie and Hamada’s favourite apprentice, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Johnston is one of the most exciting and innovative potters working in America today. He is recognized internationally as an artist who has pursued functional expression and brought a fresh aesthetic vision to contemporary form, and for his many contributions to the development of wood kiln technology in the United States. http://www.goldmarkart.com See more films like this at http://www.WeLoveClay.com What is Goldmark? A family business started by Mike Goldmark, we’ve been selling art from the Goldmark Gallery in Uppingham, UK for over 40 years and hold over 50,000 items in stock. Explore a wide range of the very best art and ceramics available to you through our website goldmarkart.com where you’ll also find scholarship pages, books, online catalogues and even GoldmarkTV! Enjoy your visit here: http://bit.ly/18ZF7Lv At http://discover.goldmarkart.com we publish beautiful films and articles for new buyers and seasoned collectors alike, with new content posted every week. See something you like and you can head over to http://goldmarkart.com, our online shop, where we sell an extraordinary range of art and ceramics. FACEBOOK http://facebook.com/goldmarkgallery TWITTER http://twitter.com/GoldmarkGallery INSTAGRAM http://instagram.com/goldmarkart/ PINTEREST http://uk.pinterest.com/goldmarkgall… GOOGLE PLUS http://plus.google.com/u/0/+Goldmarkart YOUTUBE http://youtube.com/user/Goldmark… VIMEO http://vimeo.com/goldmarkgallery http://goldmarkart.com

call for submissions: THREE opportunities to exhibit with Charlie Cummings Gallery!

Summer is Served: Plates call for submissions

This summer Charlie Cummings Gallery will host Summer is Served: Plates, an exhibition exploring the dinner plate, one of the vessels most closely associated with cooking and serving in the home or dining out and with celebrating with family and guests. This exhibition will be via both invitations and submissions showing four individual plates from each participant and will be online only. We are pleased to invite artists to submit plates for consideration for this exhibition celebrating this vital functional ceramic object.

Deadline: midnight Eastern, May 31st, 2020

Exhibition calendar and details:
May 31 – Submission deadline
June 19 – Notifications sent
July 9 – Plates Ship-by Deadline
July 16 – Plates due at gallery
August 1-27Summer is Served: Plates online
May 2022 – Unsold plates returned

Cup: The Intimate Object XVI call for submissions

This fall Charlie Cummings Gallery will host Cup: The Intimate Object XVI, the sixteenth installment of our iconic annual cup show. This year the exhibition will once again be via both invitations and submissions showing five individual cups from each participant and will be online and installed in our brick-and-mortar gallery. We are pleased to invite artists to submit cups for consideration for this exhibition celebrating the most intimate and beloved of functional ceramic objects.

Deadline: midnight Eastern, June 28th, 2020

Exhibition calendar and details:
July 5 – Submission deadline
July 20 – Notifications sent
August 21 – Cups Ship-by Deadline
August 24-September 4 – Cups due at gallery
October 5-October 31Cup: The Intimate Object XVI online
February 2021 – Cups returned

Our Lives in Clay call for submissions

In December Charlie Cummings Gallery will host Our Lives in Clay, exhibition exploring the iconography of the ceramist and a life immersed in the culture of handmade ceramics. The kiln, the potter’s wheel, the warm cat on your lap, the faithful studio dog at your feet, and a favorite cup on the studio table are symbols of a clay artist’s life. The neatly arranged rows of cups on the shelves of a beloved cup collection are immediately recognizable to collectors who choose to fill their lives with handmade ceramics. Tables full of gorgeous wares and sculpture the speak of ceramist’s booths at art festivals and the bountiful collections found at ceramics galleries. These images describe a life lived in appreciation of enduring things produced by human hands with great time investment and skill to be used an enjoyed intimately in the home and proudly shared with all who will touch them and all who will listen. This exhibition will focus on self-referential ceramics that celebrate and examine the life we’ve chosen working with clay.. The exhibition will be via both invitations and submissions showing three individual ceramic works from each participant and will be online only. Pottery, sculpture, and clay prints are welcome. We are pleased to invite artists to submit works celebrating Our Lives in Clay.

Deadline: midnight Eastern, September 13, 2020

Exhibition calendar and details:
September 13 – Submission deadline
October 23 – Notifications sent
November 11 – Work Ship-by Deadline
November 18 – Work due at gallery
December 12-January 7Our Lives in Clay online
July 2021 – Cups returned

Send questions (not submissions) to [email protected], or call 352-514-8821.

Full submission details are posted HERE.