#penland school of craft

[matmarrash]

My 2023 in Review: Grants, Public Art, and Teaching

With 2024 right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to reflect on 2023 and share a bit more about what I’ve been up to. In terms of making pictures, 2023 is currently in my Top 3 worst years for creating photographic work. This doesn’t mean that everything else I was working on wasn’t photography related, it just wasn’t work for myself. Looking back, this year was all about strengthening my arts connections locally by sharing photography with the community. In no particular order, here’s what I’ve been up to for the past twelve months.

After-school Arts

Since the Fall Semester of 2022, my good friend Tariq Tarey and I have been working closely with a local charter school to develop an after-school photography program. For our first year, we were able to get interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras into the hands of fourteen eager 7th and 8th graders. Each week, we would take an hour to introduce the kids to a different aspect of photography. Throughout the year we managed to guide them out of Auto Mode on their cameras and start “seeing” their photos instead of simply “point and shoot”. By the end of year one students had: photographed a body of work, critiqued and edited their pictures, printed, framed, and entered their photographs into a local art show.

It’s been a long time since I’d worked with middle school aged kids, and to say I was nervous about working with younger students is an understatement. From years of teaching privately via Midwest Photo and One-on-One workshops, teenagers haven’t been my typical clientele. Many of them had no experience with a camera outside of a smartphone, and the idea of a dedicated device for picture taking was completely foreign. To the surprise of Tariq and myself, they picked up the basics at lightning pace. The mechanics took a bit more practice than anticipated, but their grasp of the language of photography was impressive and helped guide their vision. Overall I’m incredibly proud of what our students were able to accomplish in our short time together, and I’m looking forward to 2024 where we’ll be back for a new class of creatives!

Hilltop Cyanotype Day

Each year, the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) offers financial support to individual artists and arts organizations in the Columbus, OH area in the form of grants. These can range from one-time stipends for artist’s supplies to sustaining grants for arts nonprofits in the area. I’ve been participating in GCAC Individual Artist grants since 2015 and looking through the 2023 opportunities list, there was a new program that piqued my interest. The Neighborhood Arts Connection (NAC) grants are a way for artists residing in a particular Columbus neighborhood to receive funding to elevate and engage the community. And one of the two neighborhoods on the list for early 2023 was the Hilltop, where I’ve been for the last four years. There were two levels of the NAC grant available, $5k and $10k for a neighborhood based art program, so I decided to swing for the fences. I pitched a one-day public workshop where ANYONE would be able to attend free of charge to make a cyanotype print. To my complete surprise, the grant was approved; this was going to be my biggest undertaking of the year by far!

Even as I talk about it in past tense, $10k is a lot of money to spend on any one thing. I’m incredibly grateful that Columbus has an arts organization that’s able to support artists and their communities with grants like this. All of that being said, $10k for a public art event can be tough when accounting for everything that goes into the day. Breaking it down into three core categories, here’s what the budget looked like on my grant application versus what it actually came out to:

Material Resources - $4360 planned, $3878.81 actual

Includes art supplies, consumable goods, first aid supplies, and miscellaneous goods purchased for the event.

Human Resources - $4400 planned, $4682.50 actual

Includes pay for event host (me), eight assistants, and security all at a fair wage.

Event Planning - $1240 planned, $1693.11 actual

Includes space rental, permits, insurance, and event marketing.

So how far did that $10k go? I’m a little biased here, but I think it was enough to make an impact on my neighborhood. On Sunday October 1st, 2023 at Westgate Park, I along with eight other local artists hosted a hands-on workshop where all attendees were able to make their own cyanotype prints, free of charge. No photography experience? No problem! There were 200+ pieces of pre-coated light sensitive materials on-site, with dozens of different stencils and objects to make a unique photogram.

Throughout the course of the day, we had over 130 members of the public join us in making nearly 200 cyanotype prints on: watercolor paper, t-shirts, tote bags, napkins, and a few giant cotton murals! We had folks of all ages in attendance from age 4 - 72, many of which stayed to make extra prints. There were a few photographers that showed up, but a vast majority were Hilltop and Westgate locals that were interested in making something by hand. Any leftover arts and craft supplies that were used from the day made it into the hands of Hilltop art teachers, and two of the giant “snow angel” murals were donated to Hilltop local establishments. Most importantly, no attendees left the event empty handed, and everyone remained safe while having fun experiencing the joy of photography!

There were plenty of hurdles and a lot of lessons learned during the planning and execution of this event. Once I have that all of my thoughts and feelings compiled into an explainer video, I’ll be sure to append this blog post accordingly. For now, here are a couple of galleries of photographs taken on Cyanotype Day by photographers Shiann Banks (below) and Gracie Becker (above), thank you both SO MUCH for your help!

Research & Residency

Working as a freelance photographer is still not something I’m 100% used to yet, but in this second year of not having a 9-to-5 job I’ve started to look at opportunities that were previously out of reach. In previous years I’d see a handful of amazing location workshops and artist in residence (AiR) programs that I couldn’t participate in due to lack of paid time off days. One of my big goals for 2023 was to change this by applying to upcoming AiR programs and explore new grants. The Hilltop Cyanotype Day was one such opportunity afforded by a generous GCAC grant, but I’m happy to report there are a couple more.

Starting in January in 2024, I’ll be taking part in the Winter Residency program at the Penland School of Craft. Penland is an amazing craft school nestled into the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. Each year they host over a thousand students in residencies and workshops of various lengths and disciplines. During those few Winter weeks I’ll be in charge of the photo studio and darkroom spaces at Penland in exchange for some much needed time and access to work on my alternative process photography.

Alongside the Winter Residency at Penland, I’m equally excited to announce that I’ve received a generous grant award from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) to help fund additional materials and research related to alternative process photography. Combined with my upcoming time at Penland, my aim to is come back to Columbus and spend more time making fine prints throughout 2024. With any luck I’ll be attempting several new-to-me alt processes and be reporting back to you all here on the blog and the YouTube channel.

In retrospect, 2023 was another year defined by photography, just not my own. I wasn’t out making pictures with big sheets of film through an “old timey” as much as usual, but I still had a blast. Thanks to everyone that helped make this past year a meaningful one, and an especially big thanks to the Greater Columbus Arts Council and Ohio Arts Council for helping support my continued photographic projects. Have a safe and Happy New Year, and I hope to share more photography with you all very soon!

[mybeingthere]

Carmen Lozar, glass artist, "Couture" series.

​Born in 1975, Carmen Lozar lives in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois where she maintains a studio and is a member of the art faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. Carmen has taught at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Craft, Pittsburgh Glass School, Appalachian Center for Crafts, The Chrysler Museum, and the Glass Furnace in Istanbul, Turkey.

“The sculpture I create with glass is meant to inspire and provoke imagination. Telling stories has always been my primary objective. Some narratives are sad, funny, or thoughtful but my pieces are always about celebrating life.”

[handweavers]

Is the textile program you're in associated with an arts institute or anything? I just joined the bachelor of visual art program at my art school and I'd love to get into textile arts but the textile department looks pretty dead and I'm not sure how much I'm gonna be able to do. Where do I sign up to do weaving full time

i mean my program is taught through an arts university, ie. my school has a thriving textile department and my degree is centred around it. if you're looking for a university program that specializes in textiles and weaving there are many in the US and several in canada that i can point you toward. I know of some good textile programs in australia and europe as well but i'm most familiar with canada and to a lesser extent east coast usa

but there are arts institutions and schools that are not degree-granting but still teach textiles as a craft. usually referred to as centres for craft or craft education, school of craft, etc. if you're in the US some major (non degree) craft schools with textile departments are penland, haystack, arrowmont, I believe there's a folk school in NC, and there's a heritage weaving school in vermont called marshfield. you can also look into weaver's guilds in your area, most regions have one and they're usually super helpful and welcoming and you could find someone experienced who is open to teaching you through that.

in canada most schools like this are embedded within colleges or universities, ex. new brunswick college of art and design. the only one in ontario that teaches non degree granting classes in textile craft is the haliburton school of art and design afaik but even that is affiliated with fleming college (you might also be able to find stuff through sheridan trafalgar but i'm not sure). but we also have the ontario guild of handweavers and spinners as well as local weaver's guilds, and likewise across most provinces.

[jrothshank]

I’ll be teaching spring concentration at @penlandschool beginning in March. It’s an 8 week course, so we’ll have plenty of time to explore decals, atmospheric firing, building up layers of imagery, and many other strategies I use in my studio practice. I’d love to have you join me for springtime at Penland. It’s going to be a lot of fun! (at Penland School of Crafts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmJ2gxwruwH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[riviera1ru]

Pottery Workshop in St Petersburg for Children and Adults

If you're interested in learning pottery, you can try a pottery workshop in St. Petersburg. These classes are fun and can be a great way to get away for a few hours to relax.

Pottery workshop St. Petersburg

If you are interested in learning about ceramics, there is a Гончарная мастерская Спб that is open to children and adults. These workshops focus on building a connection between the maker and the consumer.

Belinda Glennon, an educator, teaches ceramics classes for both adults and children. She also coordinates public school field trips. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida.

Suze Lindsay studied ceramics at the Penland School of Craft, and returned to work as an artist-in-residence at Penland. In addition to her clay work, she has developed a unique style of figurative sculpture by manipulating forms after they have been thrown.

Maria Dondero, born in Yaounde, Cameroon, took her first pottery class in Guanajuato, Mexico. Her aesthetics draw from the history of ceramics around the world. She studied slipware from Japan.

Sarah Chenoweth-Davis works with stoneware clay. Her pots are inspired by nature and function. She has exhibited widely and has been recognized with awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the McKnight Foundation.

Kris Erickson has been working with clay for more than two decades. His vessels are made on the potter's wheel and are glazed in textured white glazes. He has taught workshops at many art centers.

Matt Repsher, who earned his MFA from Indiana University in 2003, was an instructor at Indiana University and Indiana University-Bloomington. After graduation, he was a resident artist at Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft in Columbia, North Carolina.

Over 200 ideas for inspiration

For a budding potter or pottery enthusiast, there's a new hot spot in town to tote the family to and fro. The Factory is located in the Warehouse Arts District. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned pro, you're sure to find some zen time among the frenzies of like minded creative types. Not to mention the plethora of local restaurants and bars. You'll also find a slew of local makers, movers and shakers aplenty. And if you're lucky, you might even catch a show. With a myriad of options for dinning, shopping and dancing, you'll be in awe of the sheer number of entertainment choices. So, get out there and try some of them out for yourself! A few lucky souls might even be rewarded with a prize or two. If you're really into the creative life, you might be willing to make the move south. Depending on your budget, you could be in the neighborhood of Tampa Bay, or at least the bay side. Whatever you do, don't miss out on a creative experience you'll be proud of.

Events and pottery courses

This beautiful city has a vibrant art scene and a booming performing arts community. It is also home to some of the country's best beaches and state parks.

The city is known as "The Sunshine City" for its constant sunny weather and breathtaking beaches. In addition to the beach, it is also home to a number of museums. If you are looking for a creative outlet, consider taking pottery classes. Alternatively, you may wish to take a day trip to the Florida Botanical Garden. These gardens offer trail hikes and educational demonstrations.

For adults and kids of all ages, there is a plethora of opportunities for learning about and playing with clay. Practically Pikasso, for example, offers over 300 ceramic pieces for sale, along with several workshops.

You'll need to make an advanced reservation to guarantee your spot. But rest assured, you'll be rewarded with a fun, informative experience that will last a lifetime.

The same goes for the numerous events and classes offered at the nearby Belger Arts Center. They offer everything from lithography workshops to pottery classes, and more. Several of these classes are designed for adults and kids, allowing you to spend quality time together while making something special.

Likewise, the Belger Arts Center boasts a metal yard and exhibition space. They also offer monthly storage fees for your pottery creations.

[doornkamp-blog]

PHOTOGRAPHERS WORTH FOLLOWING 4: DAVID GRAY

FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY David Gray spent his early years in North Carolina and trained at Penland School of Craft and at ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles. He moved to Canada in 1980 to work as an on-set still photographer for film and television. Fine art photography has always been at the centre of his photography and this forms the basis of his web site and also his exhibition work (in…

[featherwild-sarah]

Indigo dyed pieces made in Traditional Yoruba Dyeing Techniques workshop taught by Gasali Adeyemo at Penland School of Craft

[subtlesolitude-tailoredtaste]

Raw Craft with Anthony Bourdain – Episode Seven: Elizabeth Brim

BalvenieUS

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2016

Sep 15

Fresh off a minor jiu-jitsu ear injury, Anthony Bourdain & The Balvenie head to Penland, North Carolina to meet with Elizabeth Brim, master metalsmith and instructor at the Penland School of Crafts. Brim is one-of-a-kind in the industry and her work is noted for the creation of traditionally feminine objects created from iron. In this episode, Brim introduces an original method she developed for inflating metal. Each of her works contain hours of detailed labor to achieve end results that will last a lifetime. Episode directed by filmmaker Rob Meyer.

[crazyblondelife]

A Growing Community and a Celebration...Haand Ceramics + The City of Burlington

The City of Burlington and Haand Ceramics announce a hand-painted line of commemorative plates celebrating the Burlington Carousel Festival!

 Burlington’s Historic, hand carved Dentzel Carousel is treasured by our small community. Brought to City Park in 1948, the beauty and craftsmanship of the rideable work of art has created special memories for generations of residents (including me) and is very much a part of the city’s identity.  

Another important part of Burlington’s identity was manufacturing (historically, textiles and hosiery), and while the life sciences industry may employ more residents these days, the remaining factory buildings throughout town are a constant reminder of that history. 

Haand Ceramics is located in an old textile mill near Burlington’s downtown at the corner of Tucker and Maple Streets. The mill was originally the Willowbrook Hosiery Mill and is an ideal location for the pottery store and studio.

Haand was started in 2012 by Mark Warren and Chris Pence, friends who met in high school in Jacksonville, Florida. Mark had recently finished a two-year fellowship at Penland School of Craft in Bakersville, North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Chris had studied business and accounting in graduate school and left his role as a corporate accountant to start Haand, which was originally run out of a decrepit farmhouse with no potable water and mercurial electricity outside of Durham. As the business grew, they moved operations to a warehouse in Eli Whitney and in 2017, Mark and Chris moved the business to the hosiery mill on Tucker Street.

Today, they employ a team of 30 and supply pottery to restaurants and hotels worldwide. They sell locally from a showroom in the mill and through their website to homes all over the United States.

Haand makes over 75,000 pieces of handmade pottery per year in their small workshop! And…I’m excited to announce a new partnership between the City of Burlington and HAAND. Haand is making a commemorative dessert plate featuring an animal from the Dentzel Carousel’s menagerie in celebration of the 32nd Annual Carousel Festival. This year the featured animal is the tiger and they plan to feature a different animal each year for future Carousel Festivals. It’s a perfect marriage of the Carousel’s beautiful craftsmanship with the important role of manufacturing in Burlington.  

 “To have a publicly funded space like Burlington City Park is a rare and true gift to Alamance County. I know firsthand that this park is a perfect destination where I can bring my kid and we feel part of the local community.” stated Mark Warren.  “The Carousel itself is a work of art and craftsmanship, something to be appreciated on its own. I chose the tiger for our first commemorative plate because I’ve always found a childlike enjoyment in painting circus animals.” 

Visitors to the Carousel Festival can enter a raffle to win a set of two of this year’s hand-painted porcelain plates by filling out a survey about ways to improve the Carousel Festival for future years.

 A limited edition run of the hand-painted plates will be available for purchase at Haand’s showroom at 413 Tucker Street, or at  www.haand.us starting Friday, May 5th. Haand’s showroom is open Monday - Friday from 11am - 4pm, and Saturday from 12pm - 4pm. You can also visit them for a tour as part of Downtown Burlington’s Fourth Friday Art Walks on the Fourth Friday of each month, from 5:30 - 9:00 pm.  If you are local, this is a great experience and you’ll definitely leave with a piece of pottery…or 2!

Small to mid-size companies like Haand represent the majority of the Burlington’s firms and jobs and are truly the backbone of Burlington’s business community.  HAAND’S business continues to grow and one of their newest collaborations includes a beautiful line of hand-blown glassware with Christopher Kerr-Ayer, and a collection of modern heirlooms curated by Vivian Howard, a North Carolinian chef and hospitality expert.   

 The 32nd Annual Burlington Carousel Festival will be held at Burlington City Park on Saturday, May 6 and Sunday from 10am-6pm with an evening concert featuring Crawford & Power and Ryan Perry from 6pm – 10pm and on Sunday, May 7 from noon-5pm. The Carousel Festival features live music and performances, an artisan market, food trucks and food vendors, a beer garden, an action-packed Kids Zone and free rides on the newly restored Carousel and other amusement rides that call City Park home. More information here!

To download the video of the hand painting process, more images of Haand ceramics, and their manufacturing process, as well as higher resolution images of the the tiger from Burlington’s Carousel, go to this link: https://we.tl/t-XNguMsNDdt.

I hope to see you there!

[clockworkfeathers]

Squeaking in just before the end of the year, it’s a new zine issue! The main feature in this issue is the write up of my work at the beginning of the year as a resident artist in the Penland School of Craft flame shop where I refined a method for combining ceramics with glass using a torch. . Major thanks to @penlandschool for a fellowship award that made this work possible. . Link to the Patreon post where everyone can download the issue for free is in my bio. . #ceramics #glazechemistry #glasschemistry #flameworking #zine https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmz1CTfLRTn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mjohnsonartz]

Sorry (2023)

Handmade paper (kozo and abaca), with hospital gown and monotype inclusions. Made in Paper Studio at the Penland School of Craft.

The base sheet was made with a deckle box technique. The kozo sheet laid over the top was a double couched sheet but still ended up with a pretty big hole in it. "Sorry".

[mybeingthere]

Glass sculptures by John Kiley

John Kiley is a fourth generation Seattle native who attended The Pilchuck Glass School and the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.  Throughout his career as a professional glass artist, which began in 1992 at the age of 19, Kiley has worked with the most renowned masters in the field and has become an established mentor in his own right.

After working as an assistant in the Benjamin Moore studio, John Kiley joined Dale Chihuly as a gaffer on the chandelier team of his Chihuly Over Venice project, he traveled to Finland, Ireland, Mexico and Italy. He spent four years as an assistant to Dante Marioni before becoming a principal team member with Lino Tagliapietra in 1994.  In addition to blowing glass in Tagliapietra’s private Murano studio, Kiley has traveled all over the world with the maestro.

Continue https://www.schantzgalleries.com/john-kiley-biography

[hystericminitotebag]

I’ve also been dying to apply for a workshop at Penland School of Crafts sooooooo, we’ll see what happens.

I’ve been toying with the idea of taking a ceramics course, it’s just the place I want to take the class at has a really expensive membership which like, is kind of worth it because not only do you have the ability to take any class they offer (which ranges from like welding, to woodworking, etc), but you also have 24/7 access to their studio spaces so you can literally post up whenever and all night/day if you want to.

[jrothshank]

Tonight at the wood kiln at @penlandschool @penland_clay @sara.m.gallagher @sadiemisiukceramics (at Penland School of Craft) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqo4pjHs4do/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[uncgarchives]

The opening pages of Amos Paul Kennedy’s students’ book “Mistakes,” produced at Penland School of Craft in 1995. Kennedy, a printer and bookbuilder with Jubalee Press, visited UNC Greensboro as a visiting printer in 1993. Previous Special Collections Librarian Emilie Mills was so impressed with his work that she immediately initiated a standing order with Mr. Kennedy and asked him to make Jackson Library the home of the press's archive. Visit http://go.uncg.edu/jubalee to learn more about Amos Kennedy and Jubalee Press!

[milesbutterball]