Studio Potter Grants for Apprenticeships

by | Mar 22, 2019 | emerging artist

Grant Program Mission

Established in 2019 and funded by an anonymous donor, Studio Potter’s Grants for Apprenticeships program supports emerging artists who want to become full-time studio potters and, conversely, mentor-potters who wish to take on an apprentice. This grant program honors the mission of Studio Potter and the legacy of its founder, Gerry Williams, by fostering individual careers in studio pottery, contributing to the life and future of ceramics, ensuring the continuity of a centuries-old tradition in non-academic education, and, most broadly, upholding humanitarian values.

Studio Apprenticeship Defined

Studio-based apprenticeship is a form of person-to-person training that places work above theory and emphasizes intimacy and immersion. In the West, people commonly associate the history of apprenticeship with craft and trade practices in Europe during the Middle Ages, but traditions of lineage-learning have endured for centuries around the world. Apprenticeship continues today as a means of passing down knowledge from generation to generation and as a way for aspiring artisans to build professional communities and prepare for careers as studio artists.

Why Apprenticeships?

Pedagogy in craft disciplines has changed dramatically in the last century because of technological advances and the rise of a modern education industry. In this context, apprenticeship offers an alternative to academic educational structures through one-on-one relationships in an established studio. Apprentices learn by participating in the daily lives of their mentor, learning their skills, and being exposed to their values. Operating at the intersection of folk culture and professional development, apprenticeships contribute to the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and the advancement of individuals.

Application Basics

The Grants for Apprenticeships program offers annual grants of up to $10,000 to support apprenticeships in studio pottery. Both apprentices and their mentor-potters may apply, one as applicant and the other as co-applicant; both parties must be legal residents of the United States and eighteen years or older. Apprentices cannot be enrolled in any institution of higher learning during their proposed apprenticeship period. The apprenticeship must occur in the United States. Women and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply. The application period opens April 1 and closes June 1 of every year, with notification of award by July 1 for apprenticeships beginning within one year of notification (before July 1 of the following year).

Full details and application forms can be found at https://studiopotter.org/apprenticeship-grants

call for artists: 4th annual Artaxis Fellowship for workshop at Haystack

by | Dec 29, 2018 | call for entry, workshops

We are happy to announce the Call for Applicants for the 4th annual Artaxis Fellowship. This year, we will again be offering two fellowships, each one worth up to $2,000, to fund a two-week summer workshop in ceramics at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. The fellowships will cover room, board, and tuition for a two-week workshop, and up to $500 for travel to and from Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, USA.

The Fellowship is intended to increase diversity, equity, and access across the field of the ceramic arts. In particular, attention will be paid to race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status, but unique circumstances such as wartime military service, medical conditions, and unconventional family structures will also be considered. Therefore, Artaxis encourages artists of diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply.

The 2019 Fellowship Selection Committee is comprised of: Morel Doucet, Janina Myronova, and Natalia Arbelaez. After an initial round of reviews by the Artaxis Board of Directors, our distinguished Fellowship Selection Committee will choose the final recipients for the 2019 Fellowship.

Eligibility:

  • Nominated by an existing Artaxis member. Members can nominate more than one applicant. (Artaxis members cannot apply)
  • Artists 18 years of age or older, at any stage of their career. Nominee does not need to be a student.
  • Artists must be able to demonstrate financial need and, if requested by the board, provide a copy of the first page of your most current tax return or other financial document.
  • The Fellowship is designed to offer an experience that would otherwise not be possible for the Nominee. To that end, any Nominee who has attended numerous workshops will not be considered “in need”.
  • This Fellowship is open to National and International applicants. Artaxis will provide International applicants with letters of invitation, but cannot offer additional funding or support with acquiring a visa.

The 2019 Artaxis Fellowship is supported by Artaxis members and funded by Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in an effort to nurture talent within creatively driven individuals by offering financial support to underrepresented artists.

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].

Full application form HERE.

residency opportunity: Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art

by | Aug 14, 2018 | residency opportunity

Mashiko Museum Residency Program is conducting an artist residency enterprise (Artist in Residence) that provides the opportunity for cultural exchanges for both domestic and overseas ceramic artists, and to aim of developing and raising the level of art culture. This time, we advertise for a few ceramic artists to participate in Open Call program 2019.

Mashiko Museum Residency Program was initiated in May 2014 by Mashiko town and Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art. The artist-in-residence program invites active artists from outside of the town to stay and work in Mashiko.

We have two kinds of programs, Guest Artist Program and Open Call Program (started in 2017). The guest artists are invited by Mashiko town / Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art to stay and work here and the open call artists stay and work here after being accepted through our application process. During their stay in Mashiko, artists conduct exchange events such as slide lectures, workshops, open studios, etc. together with work creation. Through this enterprise, we are aiming to deepen the exchanges between artists from outside of the town and creative people in and around Mashiko. We also hope that ceramics and other crafts of Mashiko will be shared widely both nationally and internationally, and that this program will be a springboard for new creative paths.

Mashiko Arts & Crafts Residence has been built with the generous donation from Minoru Otsuka, a Mashiko-born businessman and the founder of Otsuka Corporation. The facility was completed in spring 2014, and stands in the premises of Ceramic Art Messe Mashiko. It is a one-story building with red tiles for the roof, which uses minerals from Ashinuma in Mashiko. The facility includes a living space for the artists-in-residence as well as a multi-purpose atelier.

Find out more here: www.mashiko-museum.jp/residence/artist.html