Nceca 2010 Philadelphia

[Stephen Robison]

As the education moderator I figure maybe I should give some feedback on NCECA. The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts just concluded on April 3rd with from what I hear a fantastic closing speech from Malcolm Davis. I was not lucky enough to stay for that or one of the other great events, The Emerging Artists Lecture.

 

Some of my students were lucky enough to stay so I can vicariously report on the last day. From the conference catalog Malcolm Davis is quoted as saying, “As I travel about the land, giving workshops, I am continually touched and amazed by the journeys that have brought people to clay and how this humble material from the earth has transformed their lives into the unexpected. I will focus on clay, not as an art form, nor as a vehicle for self-expression, but as a material that has the power to transform the human spirit. Whether potter or sculptor, maker or user, collector or critic, it is the clay that we have in common and that brings us together into a community. Clay is the reason that we are all here today; Clay has given each of us a Journey of Transformation.†Some great thoughts that I hear were expanded upon with great wit and humor.

 

The Emerging Artists Every year is a highlight of the conference. They are usulay some of the best up and coming artists in our media and their fresh views are often times very enlightening to the students and professionals who attend the conference.

 

The last few years of fantastic artists can be seen at http://nceca.net/app/exhibitions/results/emerging

 

This years line up was; Martha Grover, Nidhi Jalan, John Oles, D.H. Rosen, Amanda Salov and Christina West.

 

Martha Grover’s work is based in utility and has soft and subtle surfaces. As one form nestles inside another her work exhibits undulation that brings the work to life without any static qualities.

 

http://www.marthagrover.com/

 

Nidhi Jalan uses an amorphic figural direction along with a mode of installation that addresses the human condition.

 

http://www.nidhijalan.com/index.html

 

John Oles is a utilitarianist whose tea bowls seem to command the viewer to touch them, fondle them and caress them. As they almost seem to take on many aspects of the figure they again also call the figure to interact.

 

http://www.carolrobinsongallery.com/artists/oles-bio.html

 

 

D.H. Rosen uses a connection between the fonts and numbers in the digital world in conjunction with form related to fertility to create instillations. The work speaks of movement and repetitive design though both the surface work on the sperm and the directional texture they create on the wall.

 

 

Amanda Salov is an artist who creates small-scale work that uses color, form and textures that appeal to our senses in an almost culinary way. Some of the work, like the “Dripping Sweetnessâ€, is almost painfully sweet with its yellow icing like quality. Some forms melt into one another and the ideas of time and transition are captured in a given moment.

 

http://mandisalov.wordpress.com/resumeeducation/

 

Christina West is working with figural concepts that pull us in their monotone or limited color surfaces. Limited color pallets create a striking emotion response and allow her figures to command full attention in the minimal spaces they inhabit. They are caught in time during an action that never seems to be directly read.

 

http://artaxis.org/ceramics/west_christina/christina_west.htm

 

 

The work of these ceramic artists and potters will certainly need to be followed.

 

 

So starting out at the end of the conference and talking about just these two events there of course is the Keynote in the begging and all the meat in-between. I want to first talk about the keynote speaker Mrs. Terry Gross. http://nceca.net/static/conference_presenters.php

 

I have been listening to Fresh Air, NPR’s weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, with this most distinguished, articulate and amazing host for quite some time. It was a real pleasure to hear her talk about her interview style and get to know her on a more personal level. It is hard to really pull her keynote into being very relevant to our discipline of ceramics. However the ideas and content that many in the discipline work into their work certainly relates to ideals of human rights, politics and other issues that come up during her interviews. Her insightful probing into the diverse people she has interviewed gives her listeners knowledge that adds to our day-to-day view and understanding of politics, sexuality, and music.

 

The speaker before Mrs. Gross was the Mayor of Philadelphia, Mr. Michael Nutter. Mayor Nutter gave a fantastic welcome speech that was filled with great insight into the history and contemporary place that ceramics has on “The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affectionâ€.

 

It was great also to have one of my professors in Graduate School, Mr. Bunny McBride, receive an Excellence in Teaching Award.

 

As the year passes between one conference to the next we always lose some of our friends. The family members we lost this year was, Jeff Carlick 
1948-2010
 
Ruth Duckworth
1919-2009
 
Bacia Edelman
1925 – 2009
 
Maurice Grossman
1927 – 2010
 
Otto Heino
1915 – 2009

Thomas Rohr
1964 – 2009

Matthias Ostermann
1951 – 2009
 
Frances Senska 
1914 – 2009
 
David Stannard
1925 – 2000. People in the field of ceramics who didn’t know them need to research their work and think about what they all gave to us.

 

NCECA Honors Awards went to Richard Shaw and Matthias Osterman. Two major players in our field. Richard had his banjo and was jamming during the conference.

 

The lectures in between the opening and the closing were the real meat of the conference. Some lectures were not up to par, but all in all there was a great line up. The best lecture I attended was Chris Staley’s called, “The Wisdom of Touching Clayâ€.

 

Another great lecture was, “Key Texts in Twentieth-Century Ceramic Criticismâ€, with panelists: Ezra Shales, Glen Brown, Garth Clark and Jenni Sorkin.

 

Since this forum is on education I should also bring up a great panel discussion called, Emerging Faculty. The Emerging Faculty panel was a fantastic group or faculty with the high energy and excitement you could see in Jake Allee’s presentation to the insightful teaching ideologies of Brian Harper. Moderator Al Holen talked on great collaborative projects that brought students together in a communal direction while Shannon Sullivan brought up great strategies in her teaching. All panelists brought up great usage of technology in their pedagogy. I feel as though I will need to add a separate entry in this forum to discuss further this panels knowledge on teaching.

 

 

There is no way to sum up any of the lectures I attended unless I spend a few days writing. There are so many other panels and lectures that I should mention. If there is a major critism I have of NCECA conferences is they are not long enough and many times you have to chose between lectures that are at the same time. I some times play musical chairs and go from one lecture to another. If you went to the conference then you know what I mean. If you didn’t or I should say have never attended an NCECA then you need to. Next year is in Tampa and the following year it will be in Seattle. Both will prove to be a GREAT time.

 

The other events like demonstrations are also a top event for education. This years demonstrators were; figurative artist Judith Fox, utilitarianist Matthew Metz, utilitarianist Kari Radasch, and the incredible still life artist Richard Shaw. During their demonstrations these artists all gave great insight into not only their work but also to ceramics and life itself. These types of learning are incredible eye openers and give students who experience quite a few ah ha moments in such a short time.

 

I have been going to NCECA for 20 plus years and the education is rooted in all of the above along with the shows and the parties that one attends. There were an abundance of those this year also. By far the best two parties were the West Virginia Party and the one with Junior and the Alaska gang jamming in Brad and Kathy’s room until 3:00am plus. Yep, you learn a lot at a party! For instance Templeton Rye is fantastic!

 

The shows were fantastic. The Hermaphrodite Show at the Wexler Gallery was one of the best Figurative shows and the downstairs show of Adelaide Paul was also fantastic. http://www.wexlergallery.com/wexler.html

 

The show at Snyderman Works Gallery, http://www.snyderman-works.com/works/gallery.html , was also fantastic.

 

The three major NCECA shows were the National Invitational Exhibition, called Earth Matters, the National Student Juried Exhibition and the juried National K-12 Exhibition. All of which had some great work. The NCECA Gallery Expo was also a great collection of galleries from outside of Philadelphia and showed off some great work.

 

The Utilitarian venues that fell in the top category were in the hotel. Some of my top picks were the Sante Fe Clay LA Mesa http://www.santafeclay.com/gallery.htm

and The Art Stream Exhibition, http://www.art-stream.com/ .

 

The Clay Studio and some other venues showed some of the best of the utilitarianists also. The Clay Studio had some amazing work in many directions. Just like the lectures all in all there were certainly to many shows to see too and all had their merits.

 

One major reason I attend NCECA and this cannot be overstated is the friends you reconnect with and the new friends you make. This is certainly a mixed bag of people but we all have a passion for clay and that invigorated energy that fills you at the conference comes back to your studio and your classroom.

[Chris Campbell]

I would like to post a preliminary report on the Potters Council Show at A Show of Hands gallery in Philly.

 

I was very anxious to see the show since I had only seen images of the work so I headed directly there after

arriving in Philly on Monday.

 

The show is gorgeous !!!

The pieces were even more beautiful in person than they were in images and the presentation by the gallery was terrific ...

simple but stunning.

 

The owners had stopped counting the visitors to the show after hitting 1,500 ...they are thrilled and call the show a great

success for them as well.

 

I have posted images on my website ...just click on the link at mid front page.

www.ccpottery.com

 

Now ... an admission of forgetfulness.

 

I was having so much fun at the show on Friday night I completely forgot the camera in my bag ... there were hundreds of visitors

and I was just chit chatting away all night.

 

So, you will just have to imagine a balmy night in historic old Philly, soft breezes in the warm night air ... an ever changing group

of 50 - 60 potters chatting outside the gallery and more perusing the show inside. The flow of voices and laughter ... hugs and greetings ...

cold wine and warm friends.

Three hours of compliments on the show and best wishes from all. Best of all, many expressions of determination to submit for Tampa 2011.

 

Next year, I promise to try to think about taking pictures rather than simply enjoying the moment.

 

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

- to all the artists who trusted us with your work at a first time show.

- to Show of Hands for putting it all together

- to all the Members who submitted work and hopefully will submit again for Tampa.

 

 

Chris Campbell

President - Potters Council

[Stephen Robison]

A great show indeed. It sure was a beautiful night for seeing some great work! Good food Good Drink Good Friends... what else could we have asked for. The best weather NCECA in a long time. 

[Dancing Earth Creations]

Thanks for posting Stephen. I enjoyed reading about it. I'm inspired to make it a goal to attend when it is in Seattle.

Karen

[Marcia Selsor]

NCECA 2010 Reflection It was the third time Phila. hosted an NCECA; 1975, 1992or 93 and 2010. It is my home town for 8 generations. So I have a really big affection for the city. I was really struck by our losses of these names below.I met Otto as well as Vivika back in 1972 when I lived in Boston. I went with a group from Mudflats to visit studios in NH one Sat. Their kiln had over 400 Kiln gods around the iron frame. I met Gerry Williams on that trip. He shortly afterwards started Studio Potter Magazine. Bacia was a clayarter from wayback. She was with my NYC clay friend, Anne Fallis Elliot, on a visit to Boston on 9/11. Anne had an apt. near ground zero They stayed in Boston for several days at Bacia's brother's home. Bacia sat with me and held my hand, proofed my eulogy at the memorial  session in Portland where I honored my dear friend and longtime NCECA roomie, Louana Lackey. Matthias Ostermann headed up a great conference in Toronto about 1999 named after his book, Seduced by Color. Al Caiger Smith was there and I helped him with sticking slides in the projector. Maurice Grossman was with our group in Latvia in 1991 and Uzbekistan in 1992. And my dear friend Frances Senska from Bozeman , Montana. She was so supportive of me when I began teaching in Montana. She was retired by then and had started the ceramics program at MSU-Bozeman. She was teacher to Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos. She helped get the Archie Bray Foundation going.Every year there are more friends departing. That I suppose is part of growing older. I enjoy being part of the clay community. In Phila. I attended openings for my Teachers: Bill Daley at the Architecture Institute and Paula Winokur at a gallery near the Clay Studio. Also attended an opening for an old school chum, Kathryn Narrow. She has a good article is Studio Potter this issue. There were some really good shows. The pottery show I enjoyed the most was at Sandra and Neil's on Fairmount st. Great collection of potters: Bunny McBride, Sylvia Granitelli, Lisa Naples (vitrified earthenware) and more. The first Potters Council show was in a neighborhood where I lived when I was in college. It was a good show in a familiar setting. South St. was coming alive when I lived there in 1969. SO, I hope NCECA goes back to Philly again sometime.

"As the year passes between one conference to the next we always lose some of our friends. The family members we lost this year was, Jeff Carlick 
1948-2010
 
Ruth Duckworth
1919-2009
 
Bacia Edelman
1925 – 2009
 
Maurice Grossman
1927 – 2010
 
Otto Heino
1915 – 2009

Thomas Rohr
1964 – 2009

Matthias Ostermann
1951 – 2009
 
Frances Senska 
1914 – 2009
 
David Stannard
1925 – 2000. People in the field of ceramics who didn’t know them need to research their work and think about what they all gave to us.

[ArtView]

Thank you, Stephen Robison, for posting the recap on Malcolm Davis and the emerging artists. I think his words are truly motivating for all and embody the reason we need ceramic communities and mentoring relationships.

 

“As I travel about the land, giving workshops, I am continually touched and amazed by the journeys that have brought people to clay and how this humble material from the earth has transformed their lives into the unexpected. I will focus on clay, not as an art form, nor as a vehicle for self-expression, but as a material that has the power to transform the human spirit. Whether potter or sculptor, maker or user, collector or critic, it is the clay that we have in common and that brings us together into a community. Clay is the reason that we are all here today; Clay has given each of us a Journey of Transformation.†~~Malcolm Davis