N O R T H E R N C L AY C E N T E R
22ND ANNUAL —
AMERICAN POTTERY FESTIVAL
“Humans make things, we always have. We make shoes, cakes, pots, buildings, gardens, hats, music, skateboards, tools, clothes, drawings, and on and on. Our objects of expression contain our spirit, our life mission, tell about our woven lived paths, and a statement of values.” — Peter Jadoonath
2 – 6 SEPTEMBER 2O2O
Welcome to Northern Clay Center’s 22nd annual fundraising benefit and celebration of notable clay makers. American Pottery Festival guest ceramic artists from across the country will illuminate and celebrate the honor in, and value of, the millions of ways to be and live and create in the U.S. Thank you for your visible support as we continue to listen and learn with intent and relentlessly evolve our mission to ensure meaningful diversity, impactful equity, and genuine inclusivity.
American Pottery Festival
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Brett Freund Minneapolis, MN Crusty Gem Pot 20BF042 $85
What is American Pottery Festival (APF)? Fundraiser: First and foremost, APF is Northern Clay Center’s annual fundraiser. All contributions and NCC’s portion of the purchased work, created by the 2020 APF artists, support NCC’s programs in advancement of the ceramic arts for artists, learners, and the community, through education, exhibitions, and artist services. Never has our annual fundraiser been more valued and necessary. Community: APF is a moment to come together to explore and to celebrate the studio pottery tradition in the United States. Over the last 22 years, APF has evolved into a revered tradition, one that is steeped in depth of talent, breadth of knowledge, and the generosity of artists, buyers, educators, students, volunteers, sponsors, staff, neighbors, and our board of directors. NCC is a non-profit ceramic arts center with a regional, national, and international presence. Thousands of people connect with NCC annually through outreach, education, studio programs, and through the sales and exhibition galleries. This year, we are working relentlessly to keep those connections whole. Whether you are an up-and-coming or long-time student, an emerging studio artist or maker on the road to mastery, a new shopper visiting our online gallery or experienced collector, we invite and encourage you to engage with this year’s American Pottery Festival. We have a place at the table for you. Come to learn, explore, splurge, and connect with our welcoming clay community. Exhibition and Sale: APF launched this year with a Preview Show introducing participating artists and featuring their work in our online gallery. Annually, NCC invites a group of artists whose wares represent an array of aesthetics and
materials—from humble wares rooted in historic processes, to audacious explorations of form and surface, to technical mastery of new technologies—all established in balanced composition and service to utility. Every September, APF presents over 1500 wares from the hands of the most accomplished ceramic artists in the country alongside makers who carry the promise of tomorrow. All are remarkable. This year, the festival is a five-day opportunity to choose from an array of finely-crafted objects from engaging artists in support of NCC programming. Your APF purchases underscore the impact makers have on our world. Conference: This year, we determined the safest way for us all to come together for the education component of APF weekend is through virtual platforms. Local workshop participants will have the opportunity to come to NCC to pick up the clay and supplies needed to participate, and return their work to be bisque fired as part of their workshop fee. APF artists will offer weekday interactive virtual workshops and a full weekend of demonstrations, panels, and lectures, all with the opportunity to immerse yourself in their worlds and pose questions. In addition, everyone is welcome to join us nightly, Wednesday through Saturday, for evening social hours and artist lectures. Rather than our hallmark Friday Opening Night Party, we will open the sale on the morning of Wednesday, September 2 and will offer time-specific tickets throughout the week so you can safely come into the gallery to shop in person. For conference details, please see page 15. NORTHERNCLAYCENTER.ORG
“… and through all of these events, they continued to continue. I remember my family motto, ‘Spero,’ and I continue to hope.” — Pattie Chalmers
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Pattie Chalmers Carbondale, IL Vase 20PC005 $300
Catie Miller West Fargo, ND Flower Vase 20CM010 $270
Jordan McDonald Philadelphia, PA Plate 20JM001 $80
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Tricia Schmidt St. Paul, MN Turquoise TreePot 20TS011 $350
Mike Helke Stillwater, MN Teapot 20MH015 $235
Doug Casebeer Carbondale, CO Rectangle Bottle 20DC002 $650
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“I am here! We are connected! I support you!” — Tricia Schmidt
“The deep history of clay seemed to reveal connections between women and the material, taking shape in depictions of domestic rituals and ancient fertility goddesses. This history of ceramics and its connections with slow, methodical work—less visible yet necessary for the survival of societies—has often been marginalized…” — Sanam Emami
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Sanam Emami Fort Collins, CO Covered Jar 20SE001 $350
Amanda Dobbratz Minneapolis, MN Friendship Platter 20AD079 $275
Ashley Bevington Lakeville, OH Poodle Dream Treat Jar 20BV001 $250
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Ronan Kyle Peterson Chapel Hill, NC Cell Server 20RP035 $100
Randy Johnston River Falls, WI Nuka Vase 20RJ066 $1,200
Bill Jones Greensboro, NC Canteen Vase 20BJ032 $96
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Stuart Gair Helena, MT Tea Bowl 20GA002 $65
Justin Donofrio Alfred, NY Amber Gradient Jar 20JD038 $220
Patty Bilbro Albuquerque, NM Cylinder With Spikey Squares 20PA001 $150 Andy Bissonnette St. Louis Park, MN Black Carved Vase 20AB040 $480
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“Llamas are better than dogs at protecting sheep from coyotes. They are bigger and taller and could see the coyotes from greater distances. Somebody brought these llamas to the United States for a specific purpose. Like the llamas, I am not from the United States. I am from Perú. This odd association made me remember that I am an immigrant, following all the rules to stay here but still an immigrant. This association brought about questions as to why I remain in the States. What would it be if I were in Perú? What was my purpose then in North Dakota? Why do I have this great opportunity to finally do what I consider an obsession and passion—my ceramic sculpture? Or, as an open-ended question, why do I have this opportunity? However, I have not found a concrete answer.” —Guillermo Guardia
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Mike Tavares Pawtucket, RI Coffee Pot 20MT002 $140
Guillermo Guardia St. Paul, MN Dragon Mug 20GG036 $50
Sandra Torres Ojai, CA Pitcher and Cup Set 20ST001 $155
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Daniel Velasquez Aptos, CA The Amphora of Humanity 20DV001 $3,200
Kathy King Belmont, MA Ship Trays 20KK026 $225
Forrest Lesch-Middelton Petaluma, CA Platter 20FLM049 $275
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The Wall “upon a high horse over looking the country sat an old fat cat with the brain of the monkey this fat cat decided a wall needed to be made he decided this because he was afraid afraid that his things might have to be shared for these things were all that the scaredy-cat cared He liked doing wrong and didn’t care about rights from behind his big wall he’d fight his cat fights below on the earth lived all sorts of critters even though they looked different they were of the same litter these critters were tired of the fat cats poor choices so they all came together to bring them down with their voices To reach the cats ears they would have to be loud every voice will be needed to reach a head in the clouds their voices together made the fat cats fall they fell down with their horses and even their wall This just goes to show Us critters must work together whether were dogs and were cats or birds of a feather we need to be smart when problems come about with creativity we will figure them out always stand up for what’s right and what’s wrong because this is just one verse in a much larger song” — Daniel Velasquez
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APF: On-site Exhibition and Sale* View the work of this year’s APF artists in NCC’s galleries. Between Wednesday morning and Sunday night, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy over 1500 pots and purchase your favorites for your growing collection. Tickets are available for 1.5 hour-long gallery appointments with a maximum of 10 guests in the gallery at a time. Gather nine of your friends and make it a private party! Please watch for our Members Only Ticket Pre-Sale! *We will continue to make decisions based on the health and safety of our community and will communicate any changes to our event as soon as they occur. Should the cancellation of gallery appointments be necessary, a refund of the full ticket price will be offered.
Opening Day: Wednesday, September 2 1.5 hour gallery appointment: $35 9 am – 7:30 pm* Evening Social with Artist Lectures: Free 6 – 8 pm Thursday, September 3 1.5 hour gallery appointment: $25 9 am – 7:30 pm* Evening Social with Artist Lectures: Free 6 – 8 pm Friday, September 4 1.5 hour gallery appointment: $15 9 am – 7:30 pm* Evening Social with Artist Lectures: Free 6 – 8 pm
also on cover: Peter Jadoonath Shafer, MN Bird Beast Basket 20PJ090 $160
Saturday, September 5 1.5 hour gallery appointment: $5 9 am – 7:30 pm* All-day Virtual Workshop Pass: $45 NCC Members and Educators: $35 Students: $30 10 am – 4 pm Evening Social with Artist Lectures: Free 6 – 8 pm Sunday, September 6 1.5 hour gallery appointment: $5 9 am – 7:30 pm* All-day Virtual Workshop Pass: $35 NCC Members and Educators: $25 Students: $20 10 am – 2 pm *Ticketed shopping appointments are available every 1.5 hours, beginning at 9 am, with a maximum of 10 tickets per time frame. Social distancing, gloves, and masks are required and will be provided. For more details, please see page 17.
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American Pottery Festival
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APF: Conference Clay-Along Virtual Workshops The tradition of offering dynamic, pre-festival educational opportunities with select artists continues in 2020 even if we can’t all gather in person! Doug Casebeer & Randy Johnston Between the Idea and the Making Thursday, September 3, 9 am – 5 pm Friday, September 4, 9 am – 4 pm This workshop is a rare opportunity to spend uninterrupted (virtual) time with internationally-recognized ceramic artists Randy Johnston and Doug Casebeer. They will focus on the exchange of ideas involved in making pots related to form and function with sculptural intention. This engaging and memorable workshop, filled with personal discussions about traditional and new ways of making, surface decoration, wood firing, soda firing, gas firing, and their relationship to contemporary ceramics, will come to you from their personal studios and is fully interactive. Virtual Workshop price includes a Clay-Along Kit and bisque firing of pieces created during the workshop: $225 NCC Members and Educators: $200 Students: $115 Virtual Workshop Only: $170 NCC Members and Educators: $150 Students: $75
Kathy King Unearthing Story Friday, September 4, 9 am – 5 pm Kathy King, ruler of the narrative vessel, invites you into her world full of texture, feminism, and critical perceptions. Her sensual carvings on utilitarian vessels work as a conduit to provoke impressions of gender, sexuality, and the influence of popular culture on the stories we believe. Journey with King as she demonstrates her vessels from conception, to creation, to carving. She will demonstrate her sgraffito and carving techniques and share the influence and crossover of printmaking and mixed media in her work. As you absorb her process, lean in to unfolding the story you have to tell, whether it be personal narrative or thematic perspectives, and explore profound ways to share and embody them through the physicality of clay. Virtual Workshop price includes a Clay-Along Kit and bisque firing of pieces created during the workshop: $130 NCC Members and Educators: $115 Students: $75 Virtual Workshop Only: $100 NCC Members and Educators: $85 Students: $50
Saturday Workshop Session September 5, 10 am – 4 pm All-day Virtual Workshop Pass: $45 NCC Members and Educators: $35 Students: $30
Tippy Maurant chats with 10 – 11 am Patty Bilbro, Guillermo Guardia, Catie Miller, & Mike Tavares Inside the Potter’s Studio We launch into our weekend of virtual demonstrations with our tradition of coffee and a behind-the-scenes dialogue between a talented cast of makers. There will be insights into the life and times of a studio artist, candid conversations about everything from failed kilns and challenges with the material, to studio realities and personal collections, to navigating this year’s challenges through art. You are invited to listen to the stories behind the pots you love. Ashley Bevington & Tricia Schmidt 11:15 am – 12:30 pm Allusive Zoomorphism Ashley Bevington and Tricia Schmidt will transform a wheelthrown form, Bevington through adding adapted features and lavish texture, and Schmidt through building embellished creatures onto and incising them into form. Discover the use of animals as symbols in their work that speak to their own personal experience and the human condition, and contemplate these connections in your own life. Sanam Emami & Forrest Lesch-Middelton 1 – 2:45 pm History Repeats Itself Discover the historical and cultural influences and collaborations in Sanam Emami’s deliberate patterns and Forrest Lesch-Middelton’s intricate designs and poetry. Since both artists draw from Middle Eastern design, join them as they discuss this common thread and demonstrate the distinct sensibilities of their individual works. Emami will demonstrate her stencil and slip techniques and Lesch-Middelton his volumetric transfer process. This dynamic duo will leave you curious and craving a surface evolution of your own. Andy Bissonnette & Justin Donofrio 3 – 4 pm Ordering a Surface Andy Bissonnette directs us to contemplate mysteries achieved by hand, and Justin Donofrio’s rhythmic objects ask us to reflect on our relationship with the earth and ways we attempt to control it. Join them as they demonstrate their different approaches to designing and executing an ordered surface and the layered assembly and carving processes that serve the entrancing rhythms of their work.
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APF: Event Packages Sunday Workshop Session September 6, 10 am – 2 pm All-day Virtual Workshop Pass: $35 NCC Members and Educators: $25 Students: $20
Catie Miller 10 – 11 am Transfixing Transfers Travel through layers of hand-drawn motifs, vibrant color, symbolism, and playful intention as Catie Miller demonstrates her illustrated surface transfer technique. Miller’s fresh forms are as alluring as her ritualized process, and the inviting combination elevates our perception of everyday objects and recasts them as beloved home staples that contribute to and ground tradition. Be equipped to experiment with transfers of your own, better the marriage of form and surface, and be inspired to define a narrative language unique to the way you interpret the world. Amanda Dobbratz & Mike Tavares 11:45 am – 12:45 pm Earthenware and Extracurricular Activities Join Amanda Dobbratz and Mike Tavares as they discuss their fondness of a common material and demonstrate their different approaches to earthenware. Stay intent as they bring forms to life and share conversations about influences in their work and how their creative energies overflow to other avenues like Tavares’s Clay Siblings Project, Dobbratz’s design work and teaching, and other arenas that inform or have grown out of their ceramic practices. Mike Helke, Peter Jadoonath, & Jordan McDonald 1 – 2 pm Endurance of the Object Every object tells the story of an interaction with its maker. We will end our weekend together with a time of sharing and reflecting on a medium that captures and preserves moments in time and how the artist and object persevere and evolve together. Join Mike Helke, Peter Jadoonath, and Jordan McDonald as they casually build objects in tandem, share how their careers have adapted and grown over time, and how their making endures and is shaped by the unexpected turns of life. Chat with them about building successful pottery sales, career triumphs and failures, and the importance of the clay community as they together navigate a new way of making.
New this year, NCC provides the opportunity to support our annual fundraiser and ensure you’ll enjoy all that our event has to offer at various levels of patronage.
Luster
$500
Includes: • One-year Individual or Dual Membership • First tier access to schedule two 1.5 hour gallery (or Personal Shopping) appointments • Registration for one weekday workshop with Randy Johnston & Doug Casebeer or Kathy King, including Clay-Along Kit • All-day Virtual Workshop Passes on Saturday and Sunday
Porcelain
$250
Includes: • One-year Individual Membership • Second tier access to schedule two 1.5 hour gallery (or Personal Shopping) appointments • All-day Virtual Workshop Passes on Saturday and Sunday
Celadon
$125
Includes: • One-year Individual Membership • Third tier access to schedule one 1.5 hour gallery (or Personal Shopping) appointment • All-day Virtual Workshop Passes on Saturday and Sunday
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Northern Clay Center Community and the American Pottery Festival How you can help us achieve this year’s fundraising goals Fundraiser The American Pottery Festival is NCC’s most impactful annual fundraiser. Money raised during these few important days goes to support the advancement of the ceramic arts through our education, exhibitions, outreach, and artist services programming. There are many ways you can engage in our fundraising efforts throughout our APF weekend: • Purchase an all-access event package and enjoy everything APF has to offer. Available in three levels of patronage: Luster at $500, Porcelain at $250, and Celadon at $125. • Purchase a piece of donated work. Every year, each of our generous APF artists donates one hand-selected piece to our fundraiser, so 100% of the selling price funds programming. (Thank you, kind artists!) • Attend our on-site gallery (prices vary, depending on the day) with a few of your fellow clay fans. • Become an NCC member and enjoy the benefits that come with supporting your favorite local ceramic organization. • Round up your ticket price throughout the week for an added contribution. • Be inspired by the exhibition and artist lectures, and then buy your new favorite pot (or several) online to ship as a gift to introduce someone new to clay. • Support NCC’s fundraising efforts with a larger gift, and double it with your company’s matching contributions. $2000 can accomplish the following: support a studio fellowship for one emerging artist for an entire year; fund a ClayToGo virtual residency for 100 school children; or create up to 10 lecture or workshop opportunities for artists visiting from around the world. NCC Membership Purchase or renew your NCC membership before APF to take advantage of special workshop pricing and access to the onsite event ticket pre-sale. Members are invited to be the first to purchase tickets to see the American Pottery Festival exhibition in person and purchase pots. NCC members are included in a rare community of artists and supporters working to advance the ceramic arts. In addition to supporting a unique, medium-specific organization and its programming, your membership will provide you with discounts to classes, workshops, and pottery by sales gallery artists year-round. You may purchase your membership online, in the gallery, or by telephone.
Ceramic Purchases Here are a few tips to help with purchase choices for the festival week whether you engage from the comfort of your home or purchase a ticket to visit the gallery: • Shop online for hundreds of pieces by this year’s APF artists as well as the artists represented full-time in the sales gallery. This year, because the event is nearly entirely online, the online selection is more robust than ever before. • We offer a personal shopping service for those of you who choose not to attend the festival in person, but would still like to see all of the artwork whether available only in the galleries, or listed online. Please register as soon as possible so we are able to send images and to work with you to choose your favorite pieces. Sales of APF work open on Wednesday, September 2, at 9 am CT with a Wednesday ticket purchase of $35. It’s advisable to partner with our staff in the days leading up to the event so we can set aside exactly what you’d like as soon as the exhibition opens. Sales on subsequent days do not require the purchase of a gallery ticket. We are also happy to assist you in the purchase of work by our year-round gallery artists and exhibition artists. Please submit our online form or send a request for a personal shopper to salesgallery@ northernclaycenter.org. • Shop in person in the gallery by purchasing a ticket for your preferred appointment time. A limited number of tickets will be available for each appointment time frame, and members will have access to the ticket presale in mid-August. There is no limit on purchases, and, as in years past, we will assist you by storing pieces near the register. The gallery will be designed to ensure social distancing, and masks and gloves are required while inside NCC. This in-person opportunity is subject to change to protect everyone’s safety and NCC’s compliance with all government requirements and science-based protocols. • Shipping to the US and Canada is available for all purchases. Arrange for US shipping online during checkout, or simply let us offer personal service by contacting us via phone at 612.339.8007, email, or during your shopping appointment in the gallery.
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“I have this belief that artists are the culture glue that hold our communities together. Artists bring people together to share a common experience through our hands that create dialog among disparate community members. Artists most times are not aware of the outcomes, but for sure understand the importance of process, risk and failure. So, it is my feeling that artists have a high sense of responsibility within our society.” — Doug Casebeer
“Growing up a distracted, closeted, queer weirdo in the Deep South, I found respite in the grounding and entrancing nature of clay. As much as I try to complicate it, really, it’s a simple relationship. All I need to do is show up, and the clay is there to respond to the ritualized process of manipulation. For me, the moment I add pretense to this relationship, or elevate product over process, is the moment the work loses power, and I lose my ability to find contentment within it. The joy and ease I feel when I maintain an uncomplicated relationship to the process and the material is what drives me. These feelings are what saved my ass as a kid, and what I have grown to depend on as an adult.” — Patty Bilbro
“Re of m on m is th this j so im is th Makin that r pers my p overw a bala wo consi life jo ceram in b kid under makin
evaluating the relevance my studio work has been my mind a lot lately. Why his of value to anyone? Is just a selfish act? If this is mportant to me then how his relevant to the world? ng artwork is a solitary act requires time, solitude and sistence. It’s very easy for passion of making pots to whelm my life. If I can live anced life, then the studio ork is more vibrant and idered. At this point in my ourney the act of being a mic artist has its relevance being an example for my ds. I would like them to rstand the idea of humans ng things and using things that people make.” — Peter Jadoonath
“Every time I’ve bought a pot from another maker, I feel closer to that person though we may have never met. That closeness now more than ever feels like a lifeline: I am here! We are connected! I support you! I want to nurture this heathy bond with the people who view and collect my work as well. I hope it makes them happy to know a spirited human made that pot they are holding and they can find joy in the new interconnectedness of our worlds.” — Tricia Schmidt
“Ideally, my pots help the user think, feel, question, and wonder how things could be rather than how they should be. I hope the user’s understanding of the pot evolves along with their personal perception of things while it might also help them imagine or reimagine their own hopeful future.” — Mike Helke
Kurt Brian Webb Palatine, IL Women’s March Platter 20KW044 $2,500 “This porcelain underglaze-painted platter commemorates the annual marches worldwide since the first Women’s March on Washington in 2017. These protests continue in a nonviolent ideology that seeks women’s rights, worker’s rights, reproductive rights, healthcare reform, LGBTQ rights, racial equality, and tolerance.” — Kurt Brian Webb
Special Thanks This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
2424 Franklin Avenue East Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406 612.339.8007 www.northernclaycenter.org
Design: Veto Design (vetodesign.com) Clay Photography: Joseph D.R. OLeary Art Direction: Tippy Maurant Ceramic Photography: Peter Lee