NCECA 2016

3/29/2016

The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) is an incredible resource for artists, curators, educators, students, collectors and countless other individuals interested in the ceramic arts. This year, NCECA celebrated its 50th Anniversary Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, where over 6,000 clay lovers—which included many members of Savannah Clay Community, were there to experience this notable event. The focus was appropriately placed on “Makers, Mentors and Milestones” where the aim was to “reflect on the past, present and future of art and learning with clay.”

For this article, we chose to give a fresh perspective on the conference by introducing you to Austin Smith. Austin is an emerging ceramic artist and SCAD Savannah student (BFA, Painting and Ceramic Arts minor) set to graduate in spring 2016. This was her first time attending a NCECA conference, and we hope that her perspective will encourage others to make the journey next year to Portland, Oregon to experience this amazing event.

"Over My Head"
by Austin Smith

My first trip to NCECA could be described in one phrase… “over my head;” and before you read to much into that statement, know that in this particular instance, it was a good thing. Being immersed in an environment where there was such a concentration of clay enthusiasts—whether they were teachers, artists, collectors or gallery owners, was an invigorating experience. The conference is divided into lectures, demo rooms, expo hall and shows hosted by NCECA and other local galleries.

Unfortunately, during the day there is not time to attend everything and since most lectures and demos overlap it’s a good idea to pick what you want to attend most ahead of time. As a student on spring break, I expected to be more attracted to demos than lectures; however, the opposite was the case, as I found myself spending a large portion of my conference drifting from lecture hall to lecture hall. The first of which I attended was Anomalies and Curiosities by Dr. Margaret Carney; she not only detailed a unique history of tableware, but also focused on some peculiar pieces within French history that I’m still contemplating weeks later. Lectures were also given by professional studio potters, which are in no short supply at NCECA. (Don’t be surprised if you just see one of your clay heroes just walking down the hallway. Yes, they are actual people and surprisingly approachable.) One lecture I found practical was a panel on being an artist and an entrepreneur in the clay world; the panelist consisted of Sunshine Cobb, Kristen Keiffer and Meredith Host. They each talked about their experiences as artists from the time they were students and their journey to the successful artists they are now.

SCAD Ceramic Club (left to right: Kim Davies, Brittany Bierly, Kyra Crounse, Austin Smith)

Those lectures were accessible to me, and I felt like I learned so many things I can enact in my own studio practice; however, I did note that this conference did go “over my head.” In a lecture by John Britt, Tina Gebheart, Jeff Zamek and Jonathan Kaplain, they discussed everything relating to materials, glaze and clay problems. As a student, I have limited experience with glaze chemistry or the composition of clay bodies. Although most of this lecture was too advanced for me, I still picked up on a few basic concepts, so the small knowledge I do have on glazes and clay bodies was greatly enhanced.

Rain Harris and Kyle Triplett

Casey Whittier

As I mentioned before, there are also a lot of exhibitions and gallery shows going on during the conference, and as I attended these shows I was awestruck by the amazing things artists are accomplishing with clay. I’m not sure where I developed this notion, but as I’ve become more interested in ceramics of the past three years or so I’ve gotten it into my head that ceramics was limited to tableware and ceramic sculpture, so creating modern and culturally relevant artwork was an unrealistic goal. Visiting these exhibitions, those notions I had were disbanded and tossed away never to enter my mind again. Seeing some of Rain Harris and Kyle Triplett’s work, I became aware of just how powerful clay could be as a medium. The issues addressed within these exhibitions ranged from lovely tableware that was technically astounding to work that was simple in technique but rich in content dealing with contemporary social issues. I was floored and inspired to create work I had previously thought unrealistic, because attending this conference gave me concrete proof it can exist. I could see with my own eyes artist making conceptual, contemporary artwork mixing installation, alternative media and ceramics, and it was beautiful.

Aside from aching feet and a bit of sleep deprivation from waking up early and going to bed late, my first conference was amazing. I learned from game changers in the ceramic field and had my eyes opened to all the astounding possibilities of clay. Although I did feel like a kid swimming in the deep end of the swimming pool, the experience was beyond valuable as an artist, an entrepreneur and a student.

Austin embracing a Jun Kaneko sculpture.

Here are a few more images from various exhibition through out the city during NCECA and an image from a dinner reunion with past and present Savannah Clay Community members.