The Color Network launched in December 2018 with a mission to support people of color (POC) in the ceramic arts. The Color Network highlights opportunities in the field and provides an artist database for teachers and curators to reference, helping them to create more diverse programming and exhibitions. We aim to bring increased visibility and foster cross-generational connections between ceramic artists of color.
Your generous support will enable us to meet both our matching funds requirement for the NEA grant and help support futures expenses associated with our ongoing initiatives, which have included:
• Highlighting POC artists on our website and social media
• Providing artists of color with financial assistance to ship work
• Establishing an emerging curatorial fellowship for people of color
• Curating exhibitions with diverse artist representation
• Providing free portfolio & application reviews to artists of color
• Partnering with community organizations to create scholarships for POC artists
The Color Network is managed by a small group of artist volunteers, and although we’re proud of what has been accomplished in just a few short years (with very limited resources), there’s still much morework to be done. Please help us continue to grow and expand The Color Network’s impact in the ceramics community.
Show your support today by making a tax-deductible donation and/or sharing this fundraising campaign with your network.
THANK YOU!!
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NOTE: As we are not currently a nonprofit, all donations will be processed through our fiscal sponsor, Watershed Center For The Ceramic Arts, enabling your contribution to The Color Network to remain tax-deductible.
The Artist in Residence Program through the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard, offers dedicated artists the opportunity to involve themselves in research and growth, pushing their art in new directions in a dynamic, urban studio connected to the Harvard community. Individuals will have the opportunity to build relevant skills in research, professional development, technical ability, creative problem solving, teaching and community involvement through our Artist in Residence Program.
The Artist in Residence Program offers:
Personal studio space (60 sq. ft.) in addition to use of common studio space
7 day studio access
Free access to materials – clay, glaze and use of kilns (electric, saggar, wood fire, soda and gas) up to excess
Opportunities to take classes and firing workshops within the program
Paid teaching opportunities within the program for both community and academic based classes.
Opportunities to teach in Boston area programs, colleges and universities.
Solo exhibition in Gallery 224 of work completed during residency
Attend visiting artist workshops and symposium offered within the program
Exhibition/sales opportunities in two annual Show and Sales
Access to studio equipment including slab roller, extruder, spray booth, plaster mold-making room and glaze mixing area
Access to studio lighting and background material for documenting work
Website visibility
Access to Harvard University Library and Museums with provided ID
Opportunities for participation in academic collaborations with the Harvard community
Expectations of Artist in Residence
One year commitment
Must spend 20 hours/week of time dedicated to personal work
One public workshop presentation
Provide presentations to classes
Participation in program events and special projects with the Harvard Community
Artist is asked to leave one work for the permanent collection
Responsible for own housing
APPLICATION PROCESS
Applications Due: Friday, April 9th, 2021
Notification of Residency: Friday, April 23rd, 2021
Residency Dates: September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022
Winnipeg-based ceramics artist Grace Han is searching for her true identity inside her clay creations. But what is her true, “real” self? For Han it’s ineffable, but she catches glimpses in her work. “I don’t think I’d be able to explain who the real Grace Han is, but when I do my ceramic *work* I don’t have to think about who I am. The body works and then something invisible turns into the energy and then the work captures that person at that moment.” “I discovered myself in my work.” When Han moved from South Korea to Winnipeg, she felt she became very quiet. “I wanted to hide,” she *tells* us. “I felt like I lost myself in a way. I just want to be myself, I want to find the Grace Han, the real Grace Han.” While she studied ceramics in Korea, she never felt she wanted to be an artist, but in Winnipeg she decided to dive in again. For Han, the materials of ceramics allow her to capture and present the different aspects of herself. With clay she shows the strong part of herself. “Clay can be very bold so with these big pieces I wanted to show the heaviness of the material and the boldness of myself.” On the other side of the ceramic spectrum is delicate porcelain which she uses to show the “meticulous and very detailed part of Grace.” Han’s latest project is a video performance captured in this episode of Art Is My Country that captures her evolution as a new Canadian artist. In the performance, she dresses in a traditional Korean dress and uses a traditional wheel to form her ceramic piece. “This dress it’s a metaphor for the expectations or responsibilities that I had to carry that I brought from Korea because this dress gives me lots of restrictions while I’m working.” As she works she removes pieces of the dress, symbolizing her own life’s cultural shift. “At the moment of creation I slowly take layers off so I can be free. I just want to be free from everything, expectations, pressure, just be myself.” Between these two countries, Han is coming to know her new self that is some of both and also neither. “These days whenever I go back to Korea I don’t feel I fit there anymore. I am becoming myself, not Korean Grace, not Canadian Grace I’m just becoming myself and now the frustration is gone.” At the end of her video performance, after she has built a beautiful new jar, she pushes it off the wheel, smashing it on the floor. “I can destroy the jar. My main goal was the process. The jar did its job today.”
