“Over the past few weeks, we’ve been thrilled to hear a strong demand for more opportunities for Black artists and students of color at Penland.
This desire has already resulted in the addition of three new summer 2021 scholarships to our list of scholarships for people of color. They were funded by Penland’s staff, team of directors, and Board of Trustees, respectively. Our staff wanted to make these opportunities as accessible as possible, so each scholarship will cover 100% of tuition, room, and board and also include a stipend for travel and materials.
At the same time, we’ve heard from lots of you, our friends and students and instructors, about wanting to donate to a similar scholarship fund. We’re pleased now to give you that opportunity through the new Artists for Equity Scholarship Fund. The goal of this fund is to increase opportunities for artists of color who would otherwise not have access to Penland due to funding.
In a caring and generous community like ours, even small gifts compound to make a big impact. A single scholarship won’t change the face of the craft world, but it can absolutely open up new possibilities for an individual and start creating the momentum we need to reach a more equitable, inclusive community at Penland and beyond. Please join in with a gift and help bring new artists and new voices to our community!”
“Simplicity and vividness were the best attributes to describe her art and ceramics. Simplicity, for her, meant silent sophistication. Nature was her leitmotif. She framed forms through her own understanding of nature and human experience.
A ceramic cat or owl was more than just an artwork for her. She glazed her ceramics in such an inimitable way, giving them evocative rugged and rough surfaces.
Jyotsna behen, as she was popularly called, considered Ira Chaudhri as the Guru of the Indian ceramic movement. In India where a lot of ceramic work has echoes of borrowing/imitation, Jyotsna behen’s intrinsic understanding of the relationship between form and the ferment became her signature.
Her sculpted entities around nature, the spontaneity of clay and the marvels of expression speaking through her plant forms, owls and smiling cats.
Born Jyotsna Shroff in 1940 at Mandvi in Kutch, she lost her father early but her uncle saw her aptitude in fine arts and encouraged her to pursue it.
Her journey at the wheel began in the 1960s in Vadodara. A high priestess of the world of minerals and fire and clay, she looked around her garden at Vadodara for stimulus and inspiration.
Married to celebrated artist and Padma Shri, Jyoti Bhatt, she always maintained that her husband was very supportive and her family played an important part in her achievements.
She studied sculpture under Prof. Sankho Chaudhuri at the famed M.S. University at Baroda and later ceramics at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in the U.S. Returning to India she taught at, and later headed the Department of Ceramics at her alma mater until her retirement in 2002.
Her sensitivity and her distinct sensibility was born of a deep understanding of the arts and crafts heritage of Gujarat. Her journey saw the genesis of a silent yet robust modernist potter, who was at home in the contemporary world and comfortable in her own skin, sharing secrets as she went along.”
This video is part of Ann’s Workshop Express Series. A series of FREE pottery project workshops that are condensed into 10 minute (or less) videos. This video demonstrates how Ann created her popular Frog Mug. This is an easy project that does not require a wheel and utilizes basic pottery tools. Please also check out Ann’s Video Workshop Series. These workshops are very detailed (typically 1.5 – 2 hours in length) and designed to help potters take their work to new levels of craftsmanship and artistry. https://vimeo.com/showcase/6725318
It’s Pride y’all! It’s time to shout from the rooftops that the LGBTQIA+ Pride Movement started as riot by Trans women of color!
I have teamed up with 20 other potters to raffle off a piece of my work to benefit @theokraproject, a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home-cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever they can reach them. Here’s how to enter:
1. Donate $5 or more to the @theokraproject or go to https://www.artsbusinesscollaborative.org/asp-products/the-okra-project-sponsored-project/
2. Send a screenshot of your donation along with your Instagram handle to [email protected] $5 per entry. Unlimited entries. If you donate $50, you get 10 entries.
3. All receipts must be dated June 23rd or later.
4. International entries are welcome. Winners chosen at random for pieces donated.
5. Raffle ends 6/28/2020 12AM PST. Winners will be announced 6/30/2020
