Month-long show culminates in Functional Ceramic Workshop
By Ellen Pill
April 14, 2017
670
What brings me back to the Functional Ceramics Workshop this year is wanting more of what I encountered last year, as if it were the next verse in a song, Ginny Marsh said in her introduction to the catalogue for the 2017 Functional Ceramics Exhibition/Workshop.
Marsh is a resident artist at the University of Dallas. She was a presenter at the first workshop in 1977, an informal event on the College of Wooster campus. Since that time the event has grown to become a homecoming weekend for potters from all over the country and some years from Canada and Europe as well. A group of invited artists present a month-long show at the Wayne Center for the Arts, culminating in a weekend workshop.
Josh Coy, executive director of Wayne Center for the Arts, said, The Functional Ceramics Workshop is an incredible gathering of some of the finest masters of the craft to share, engage and present collaboratively with other ceramic artists. Coy, new to the art center staff, was an assistant to ceramics artist Koji Sugie at the 1995 workshop.
The exhibit offers displays of a wide variety of functional ceramics. All pieces displayed are on sale. During the workshop weekend every artist in attendance brings examples of their work, and these also are available for sale to the public.
Functional pottery is a good way to introduce people to collecting art, said Betty Talbott, executive director of Ohio Designer Craftsmen/The Ohio Craft Museum. If someone buys a mug or bowl, they can use it in their home every day and develop a relationship with the piece.
Talbott has been involved in the event for 36 years as both artist and presenter. I was taken under the wing of Phyllis Clark, Talbott said. Phyllis was in the art department at the College of Wooster. She loved functional pottery and came up with the idea of putting on a workshop and show.
The Functional Ceramics Exhibit and Workshop is now considered one of the most highly respected events of its kind in the country. This years event features presentations by three artists: Nick Joerling and Liz Zlot Summerfield from North Carolina and potter Tara Wilson from Montana.
Summerfield, a clay artist and instructor, said, I will for the most part be demonstrating how I construct my pots and the surface techniques that I use in my work. I will also discuss how I start with an idea and finish with an object, a visual presentation that includes images of my inspiration.
The goal of the weekend event is go beyond teaching. Artists of all skill levels and ages have the chance to come together and connect. It offers an opportunity to start conversations. We have people who come year after year, Talbott said. We try to make everyone a part of it. People develop friendships.
The Functional Ceramics Exhibit continues at Wayne Center for the Arts through April 22. Workshop attendees will have their work on display and available for purchase from Friday, April 21 at noon until approximately noon on Saturday, April 22.
These exhibits/sales are free and open to the public during art center hours, which are Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. until artists pack up, beginning around noon. The workshop will be held April 21–22.
Registration is $190/$90 students and includes two box lunches and dinner at Quailcrest Farm. To register, go to www.functionalworkshop.com or call 614-486-4402 by Wednesday, April 19. After that registration is available at the door on Friday, April 21.
Wayne Center for the Arts is located at 237 S. Walnut St., Wooster. For more information call 330-264-2787 or visit www.wayneartscenter.org.
