Rebekah Bogard, Distract Me, Love and Leisure, 2006, ceramics installation

Renegade Clay: Five Views from the West
Through Sept. 4, 2007

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 6-9 p.m., closing reception

This exhibition uncovers the work of five artists from western states who are defining a new generation of clay workers: Rebekah Bogard, Nevada; Shay Church, California; Max Lehman, New Mexico; Thomas Muller, California; and Christina West, Montana.

In an increasingly hybrid, cross-disciplinary and globalized world, new technologies and approaches are influencing the ceramics field. The traditional disciplines of art, design and craft have blurred in the last decade with a fluidity of movement never witnessed before. Not beholden to the past, these emerging and under-recognized artists showcase a wide range of approaches: installation, mixed media and use of new materials.

Curator Peter Held standing by Robert Arneson’s Rooted

CRC Receives Friends of Contemporary Ceramics Award

The ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center and Curator of Ceramics, Peter Held, receives the annual CLAY Award from the Friends of Contemporary Ceramics, the largest organization of ceramic collectors, art dealers and curators in the U.S.  The award is given for lifetime achievement in advancing the field. 

 “Under Peter Held’s able stewardship, the ASU Art Museum’s Ceramics Research Center at Arizona State University has organized and presented exemplary exhibitions of contemporary ceramics.  These exhibitions contribute scholarship and heighten the awareness of the ceramic arts,” says Linda Schlenger, founding chairman of the Friends of Contemporary Ceramics.

Past recipients include J. Stewart Johnson and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Ulysses Grant Dietz and The Newark Museum in New Jersey; Louise Cort and Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution; Janet Mansfield and Ceramics Art and Perception Magazine and ceramic artist Peter Voulkos, among others.

The award is presented June 1, 2007, in New York City at the Friends of Contemporary Ceramics annual awards dinner.

Sam Chung at the CRC

Welcome Reception for Sam Chung
at the Ceramics Research Center
Thursday, Sept. 20, 6 - 8 p.m.

Sam Chung joins the Arizona ceramics community in August 2007 as a new faculty member in the ASU Herberger College of the Arts ceramics department. Chung received his B.F.A. from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and his M.F.A. from Arizona State University. He is noted for functional ceramics which combine the elegant lines of the Korean Koryo and Chinese Song Dynasties with contemporary architectural and geometric forms. Chung describes his pots as having “both a sense of timelessness and contemporary relevance.”

Please join us Thursday, Sept. 20 to welcome Sam back to ASU and the Phoenix valley.

David Shaner, Boulder and Stone, 1994, glazed stoneware, 10 ½ x 15 ½ x 15 ½”, Private collection

David Shaner, Slab form (landscape), 1967, glazed stoneware, 12 1/2 x 14 x 5/8”, Archie Bray Foundation Collection

Following the Rhythms of Life:
The Ceramic Art of David Shaner
Sept. 15, 2007 – Jan. 6, 2008

Friday, Oct. 12, 6-7 p.m., members’ preview
                              7-9 p.m., public reception
                              Ceramics Research Center

Saturday, Oct. 13 – Sunday, Oct.14, Jack Troy workshop
Mesa Arts Center
1 E. Main St. in Mesa

This fall, the CRC presents a comprehensive retrospective on the ceramic art of David Shaner (1934 – 2002), which includes 60 works drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, the Shaner Family collection and other public and private collections. His works from graduate school at Alfred University, his tenure as director at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts (1964-1970) of and his studio years in Bigfork, Montana (1970 – 2002), provide and in-depth overview his career as a ceramist.

A hard-cover catalogue providing multiple views on Shaner’s work and world view, with essays by Jack Troy, Conan Putnam, Hollis Walker and exhibition curator Peter Held, accompany the exhibition.

Funding for this project is provided by the Shaner Family; the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design; Friends of Contemporary Ceramics; the Zaltec Familian and Lilian Levinson Foundation; and other generous supporters.
                       

Call to Arizona Ceramic Artists!
7th Annual Self–Guided Ceramics Studio Tour
Feb. 23 & 24, 2008, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The Artists' Advisory Committee of the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center is planning their annual Self-Guided Ceramic Studio Tour. Now in its 7th year, participating tour artists from Arizona will provide an opportunity for the general public to see their studios, demonstrate their skills and sell their work. The tour is free and is attended by nearly 2,000 visitors.

This year, the Artists’ Advisory Committee will jury applications. All professional ceramic artists not currently enrolled in a degree program and working in the state of Arizona are eligible to enter.

The Call to Artists will be available soon on the CRC Web site. If you are an Arizona artist and would like to be added to the Call to Artists mailing list, please send your contact information to Karyn.Murphy@asu.edu.

Tom Kerrigan, Untitled.
Photo courtesy of Coconino College.

Hand-building: Form + Surface + Spirit
Coconino College, Flagstaff
July 9 – 20, 2007

Tucson artist Thomas Kerrigan conducts a 2-week ceramic hand-building workshop exploring sculptural forms and vessels with emphasis on double-wall construction and upside-down building. For further information, please contact Ellen Tibbitts at 928.226.4220 or at ellen.tibbetts@coconino.edu  or Tom Kerrigan at 520.795.1495.

Exterior of the new Museum of Contemporary Craft.
Illustration courtesy of LRS Architects, Inc.

Museum of Contemporary Craft Re-Opening Gala
Portland, Oregon
July 19 – 21, 2007

Celebrate the re-opening of the Museum of Contemporary Craft with the ultimate insiders’ weekend of craft in the Northwest. Events include opening gala celebration and inaugural exhibition of Craft in America: Expanding Traditions, curatorial visits to Bullseye Glass Gallery and its biennial BECon 2007 Exhibition, and a private dining experience amidst an evening of glass blowing with Andi Kovel and Justin Parker.

Chris Gustin’s work after an anagama firing

Jetstream Anagama Workshop and Kiln Firing
South Dartmouth, MA
October 5 - 14, 2007

Workshop hosts Christopher Gustin and Seth Rainville invite Don Reitz, Tom Coleman and James Lawton to accompany artists from the Southwest and the Northeast for a week of wood firing and ceramic activities. The workshop culminates with the opening of Chris Gustin's new gallery.

An exhibition of ceramic art from the Jetstream Anagama workshop opens Nov.10.

For further information, please contact Seth Rainville at 602.697.7741, or at rainvilleclay@cox.net, or visit www.gustinceramics.com.

Best wishes for a great summer Peter, Karyn and everyone at the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center.

Our next e-newsletter is issued in August 2007. Please send details of any events or announcements you would like included in the Ceramics Research Center e-newsletter to crc@asu.edu.

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