Silver City CLAY Festival Moves to June

The Silver City CLAY Festival returns once again, but this year in June. The weeklong celebration moves from traditional July dates to June 15-21 and takes place in venues throughout Silver City, New Mexico.

Organizer Lizzie Slegeir says, “The annual festival highlights both contemporary and traditional approaches to ceramics, creating space for hands-on learning, dialogue, and community engagement. Programming includes multi-day workshops, artist talks, exhibitions. a regional CLAY Market, and activities for youth and families.”

A juried exhibition, “Convergence,” will be featured at Light Art Space, 209 West Broadway. The exhibition will run from June 4-20.  “Convergence” celebrates the moment at which varied perspectives, forms, and materials come together in one shared space. Rather than centering on a single aesthetic or narrative, the exhibition welcomes a broad range of work, allowing unexpected relationships and quiet dialogues to emerge between objects.”

“Convergence” is juried by Bradley Klem, Stephanie Seguin, and Penelope Van Grinsven who will also lead the five-day featured workshop.

The festival’s exhibition programming continues in many of Silver City’s galleries. Made in Silver City, 206 West Broadway, will present Mary Clare Wilkinson with her exhibit, “Finding Flow: Impressions and Silhouettes.” 

“She creates hand built utilitarian vessels in earthenware and stoneware pushing the boundaries in form, surface, and design. She explores the tension between the graceful and the grotesque and between functionality and sculpture.”

Blue Dome Gallery at Bear Mountain Lodge will host the work of Janet K. Burner. Inspired by the human figure, personal experience, and the natural world, Burner’s work transforms clay into expressive, imaginative forms through carving, texture, sgraffito, painting, and richly layered surfaces.

Diana Ingalls Leyba Studio & Gallery, 315 N Bullard Street, will feature “Sacred Architecture” by Patricia Countryman, Southwest Chicana artist and educator.  Countryman’s Statement: “My work utilizes the form of the altar to create dedicated environments for grief, the release of stress, and the transition of memories.”

A creative variety of workshops are part of the weeklong CLAY celebration. Workshops are available with limited number of students so register early! For complete descriptions, dates and times visit www.clayfestival.com.

“Clay in Three Dimensions: Developing Concept, Constructing Form, and Activating Surface,” is the featured workshop for this year’s festival. Led by headlining artists Penelope Van Grinsven, Bradley Klem, and Stephanie Seguin, “This workshop explores ceramic practice from idea to object, led by the three artists working in active dialogue with one another. Rather than presenting a single methodology, the five-day workshop week offers a layered conversation with three distinct perspectives examining how concept, construction, and surface intersect in contemporary ceramics.” The workshop takes place at WNMU.

“Natural Plasters: Clay, Lime and Tadelakt Workshop” with Benito Steen and Danielle Felgenhauer. This four-day introductory workshop in the world of natural plasters, explores a range of materials and techniques will happen at Whiskey Creek Zócalo. Participants will begin to develop an understanding of different kinds of clay and lime plasters.

“Creating Quiet Spaces” at Diana Ingalls Leyba Studio and Gallery, by featured artist Patty Countryman is a three-day hand-building workshop invites you to slow down, and construct altars, candlesticks and small trays designed to hold space for moments of quiet.

In “CLAY AS ART,” Janet Burner at Bear Mountain Blue Dome, Janet K. Burner will demonstrate her various methods for elevating “clay to art." This will include such elements as carving, texture, sgraffito, black wax, repoussé, and painting with slips & underglazes. Workshop participants will have hands-on experiences hand-building forms to apply techniques.

For the collectors – Mata Ortiz presentations Anna Trillo book presentation and demonstration is on June 19 at Light Art Space. Author Charmayne Samuelson and Mata Ortiz potter, Oralia Lopex are at the Silver city Museum Annex on June 20.

Join artist Kate Brown for her talk and hands-on event June 21 in Mimbres. A collaborative shard wall installation brings the community together to transform broken pottery into a shared work of connection.

“Where the Mountains Remember” a mural for all to experience, honoring the Chiricahua Apache Ancestors will be dedicated Saturday, June 20 from 3-5 p.m. The mural envisioned by artist Delia deVer uses advanced high resolution image transfer, kiln fired to porcelain tile process with imagery created by deVer. This is a collaboration with the Silver City Youth Mural program.

You can shop for a piece of ceramic art at the CLAY Market indoors at the Murray Hotel ballroom. on Saturday and Sunday. This juried event brings together a diverse group of regional clay artists.

“The interaction between visitors and artists creates a lively atmosphere in the market. As an artist, I always enjoy explaining my processes and ideas with market visitors, as well as to other artists. Having someone hold and appreciate a piece of your work is very satisfying,” said Susan Mach, CLAY Market organizer. “Purchasing an original piece of art directly from an artist is a joy!”

Please check the Silver City CLAY website and Facebook page for all events, art receptions and the CLAY Market details.  www.clayfestival.com