Bill Strickland, founder of Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild reflects on his personal journey in ceramics and the enterprise of social transformation.
Beginning with the influence of an art teacher, Strickland will discuss how his work in clay led him to develop a center for youth arts, jazz and job training in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that now serves as a model for programs in other communities. Through the National Center for Arts and Technology Strickland’s work catalyzes communities, business leaders and policy makers to cooperate on environments of hope throughout the US and other countries.
Tickets must be purchased by noon of the day of the event. Register here
Please Note: All times are Eastern Standard. An email with login instructions will be sent to all participants prior to the event.
System Requirements:High speed Internet connection, internal or external computer speaker and internal or external computer mic.For PC: Windows 7 or higher For MAC: OS x 10.8.5 or higher.
Brief Bio
William Strickland, President and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation is a highly regarded speaker on social entrepreneurship, the roles of the arts and culture on community and economic development. Introduced to pottery during his teens, he went on to establish Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in 1968. In 1996, he received the MacArthur “Genius” Award for leadership and ingenuity in the arts. Tapped by President Obama in December 2010 to serve on the White House Council for Community Solutions in, Strickland was also presented with NCECA’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2012 conference. Strickland, his wife Rose and daughter Olivia, reside on the North Side of Pittsburgh.
This event is part of 92Ys Virtual Clay™ series: offering first of a kind, real-time online classes that gather a vibrant community of artists, designers and art historians to speak with you about important topics in ceramics. The conversations are meant to challenge preconceptions and explore new territory, inspiring you to think about the world in fresh and different ways. All of this in the comfort of your home, studio or classroom.
If you’re an antiques fan, then I am sure you know that next week is New York Winter Antiques Week in New York City. Bosting to host the most prestigious showcases of art, antiques and design in the country, collectors, curators, dealers, and design professionals will descend on the city from across the globe. The jewel of the week is the New York Ceramics & Glass Fair, which takes place annually at the Bohemian National Hall on east 73rd Street and will be on view January 21 – 24, with a preview on the 20th. The Fair “brings together a carefully selected and distinguished international group of around 29 galleries offering all things “fired” – porcelain, pottery, glass, cloisonné and enamels, in a setting perfect for the exhibition and sale of important small objects.” Fair organizer Meg Wendy has put together a diverse group of exhibitors and exhibitions featuring historical and contemporary works, and a lecture series presented by some of the most important voices in the world of ceramics and glass.
NCECA and 92nd Street Y are co-sponsors for one of the featured lectures:
“Unconventional Clay: Engaged in Change”
with Catherine L. Futter, Director of Curatorial Affairs at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO. If that title sounds familiar to you, it is because this is the title for the upcoming NCECA Invitational, slated to open at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on February 26th. Catherine and I co-curated the exhibition and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase it to the NY Ceramics and Glass audience through this lecture.
Futter’s talk will explore the diversity of processes and approaches that contemporary artists employ to engage with clay. She will give us a sneak peak of the exhibition, which will include video, interactive and process-driven works by 24 artists who choose clay as a medium to accomplish affects and objectives that would not be possible with other materials.
This event is part of 92Ys Virtual Clay™ series: offering first of a kind, real-time online classes that gather a vibrant community of artists, designers and art historians to speak with you about important topics in ceramics. The conversations are meant to challenge preconceptions and explore new territory, inspiring you to think about the world in fresh and different ways. All of this in the comfort of your home, studio or classroom. So, if you are far away and have no plans to travel into NY, you can join the webcast. Register now so you don’t miss it.
But if you ARE in the NY area, I hope to see you at the NY Ceramics and Glass Fair. Find information about tickets, times and the nine other lectures that will take place here. Plan on being inspired at the turn of every corner. I will be there daily, soaking up all that the Fair has to offer, plus I am happy to share that Clay Art Center, where I am on the staff as Executive Director, will be showcasing an exhibit entitled COLORFIELD curated by Clay Art Center Program Manager Adam Chau and featuring works by 12 Clay Art Center Artists. If I am not in the lecture hall or exploring the exhibitor booths, you will most likely find me there!
Join 92Y, NCECA and Karen Atkinson at 7pm EDT, Wednesday, October 7, 2015 online as we launch the new season of Virtual Clay lectures. Artist, curator, teacher and generator of important and accessible resources for other artists, Atkinson’s Getting Your Sh*t Together and gyst-ink.com include software, a website and training experiences that incorporate a wide range of tools and practices to help you determine your creative career on your own terms. Whether you are an artist who is just starting out, or you have been emerging longer than you expected, you will want to see this presentation. Learn more about the entire 2015-16 series and register at 92y.org
Karen Atkinson is a media, installation and public artist, independent curator, collaborator, and has published and guest edited a number of publications. She has exhibited and curated internationally including South Africa, Australia, Europe, Mexico, Canada and throughout the USA, and exhibited in the Fifth Havana Biennial in Cuba and the Biennale de Paris in NYC, and recently at the Glow Project in Santa Monica. She is currently a two year long artist in residence at Thank You For Coming, an experimental restaurant in Los Angeles where she is making their dinnerware. She has taught at California Institute of the Arts since 1988.
In 2000 she began creating software for artists called “Getting Your Sh*t Together” and stated a company of the same name. She now provides software to artists world wide. She has published two books on professional practices, one for artists and the other for teaching. Her company GYST Ink, is an artist run company for artists that works to make life better for artists. www.gyst-ink.com.
This event is part of 92Ys Virtual Clay™ series, offering first of a kind, real-time online classes that gather a vibrant community of artists, designers and art historians to speak with you about important topics in ceramics. The conversations are meant to challenge preconceptions and explore new territory, inspiring you to think about the world in fresh and different ways. All of this in the comfort of your home, studio or classroom.
SAVE THE DATE – Future 92Y Virtual Clay Events:
Simone Leigh – November 11, 2015 7:00pm
Catherine Futter- LIVE from the NY Ceramic Fair, January 22nd, 2016 Time TBD
Bill Strickland-March 9th, 7pm
Wendy Gers- April 6th
Please Note: All program times are Eastern Standard. An email with login instructions will be sent to all participants prior to the event. System Requirements: High speed Internet connection, internal or external computer speaker and internal or external computer mic.For PC: Windows 7 or higher For MAC: OS x 10.8.5 or higher.
Almost everything made today is done so digitally, as to look polished and perfect. Companies like Apple and Sony have strived to create products that have no seams and appear robotically made. For a ceramicist, using the wheel allows you to erase any evidence of the human hand. Building by hand, the artist shows the fingerprints in the work- something Apple can and will never be able to do. Sachs employs this practice in all his work, and recently, has been using it in ceramics fired at the 92nd St Y. His Japanese tea bowls (chawans) are built using the pinch-pot method and his other ceramic sculptures all show the scars of his labor. The dents, cracks and errors are evident in the handmade and are what make the product the result of an individual.
Join the conversation 8:15-10pm EST, Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Participation requires free download and installation of Fuze software. **
Tom Sachs is a sculptor, and contemporary artist based in New York, probably best known for his elaborate dub-versions of various icons of Modernism—all of them masterpieces of engineering and design of one kind or another. A lot has been made of the conceptual underpinnings of these sculptures: how Sachs samples capitalist culture: remixing, dubbing and spitting it back out again, so that the results are transformed and transforming. Equally, if not more important, is his total embrace of “showing his work.” All the steps that led up to the end result are always on display. This means that nothing Sachs makes is ever finished. Like any good engineering project, everything can always be stripped down, stripped out, redesigned and improved. His fascination with the Japanese Tea Ceremony made its first appearance in Space Program: Mars his 2012 installation at the Park Avenue Armory.
This event is part of 92Ys Virtual Clay™ series: offering first of a kind, real-time online classes that gather a vibrant community of artists, designers and art historians to speak with you about important topics in ceramics. The conversations are meant to challenge preconceptions and explore new territory, inspiring you to think about the world in fresh and different ways … all of this in the comfort of your home, studio or classroom.
Registrations must be purchased by noon of the day of the event. An email with login instructions will be sent to all participants prior to the event.
** System Requirements: High speed Internet connection, internal or external computer speaker and internal or external computer mic.
Regrettably, tonight’s NCECA/92Y online event has been canceled due to circumstances beyond our control. We will be working tenaciously to reschedule this session. 92Y has already contacted anyone that was already registered for the event. Please stay tuned to the blog for details on the rescheduled date. In the meantime, you might enjoy watching the 2014 Conference Roundtable, in which Bill was a participant.
The next NCECA/92Y Virtual Clay Lecture with Bill Strickland begins at 7 p.m., eastern on Wednesday, April 8, 2015. Keep the clay dialog going… Click here to learn more and register today*
NCECA members can use the code NCECA92Y for a 20% discount.
Participation requires free download and installation of Fuze software. **
Bill Strickland, founder of Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild reflects on his personal journey in ceramics and the enterprise of social transformation.
Citing the early influence of an art teacher, Strickland will discuss how his work in clay led him to develop a center for youth arts, jazz and job training in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that now serves as a model for programs in other communities. Through the National Center for Arts and Technology. Strickland’s work catalyzes communities, business leaders and policy makers to cooperate on environments of hope throughout the US and other countries.
William Strickland, President and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation is a highly regarded speaker on social entrepreneurship, the roles of the arts and culture on community and economic development. Introduced to pottery during his teens, he went on to establish Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in 1968. In 1996, he received the MacArthur “Genius” Award for leadership and ingenuity in the arts. Tapped by President Obama in December 2010 to serve on the White House Council for Community Solutions, Strickland was also presented with NCECA’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2012. Strickland, his wife Rose and daughter Olivia, reside on the North Side of Pittsburgh.
This event is part of 92Ys Virtual Clay™ series: offering first of a kind, real-time online classes that gather a vibrant community of artists, designers and art historians to speak with you about important topics in ceramics. The conversations are meant to challenge preconceptions and explore new territory, inspiring you to think about the world in fresh and different ways … all of this in the comfort of your home, studio or classroom.
Registrations must be purchased by noon of the day of the event. An email with login instructions will be sent to all participants prior to the event.
** System Requirements: High speed Internet connection, internal or external computer speaker and internal or external computer mic.
A lot has been made of the conceptual underpinnings of these sculptures: how Sachs samples capitalist culture: remixing, dubbing and spitting it back out again, so that the results are transformed and transforming. Equally, if not more important, is his total embrace of “showing his work.” All the steps that led up to the end result are always on display. This means that nothing Sachs makes is ever finished. Like any good engineering project, everything can always be stripped down, stripped out, redesigned and improved. His fascination with the Japanese Tea Ceremony made its first appearance in 
