The Scene
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Minnesota pottery scene. I have a great affinity for it. It seems like there are a lot of potters there that throw loose, and let things grow organically. Forms are well constructed but not fussed over.
I’ve gotten quite a few pots from the Schaller Gallery which houses quite a few of those mid western potter’s, and I was able to check out Northern Clay Center’s gallery after helping a friend move to St. Cloud in 2019. There are some great grant opportunities in MN for artists, and potter especially, but I do wonder why a whole region of potter’s would have a certain feel. A folk esque sense.
Did it come from McKenzie settling there and what his experience was, and his teachings. Is that what the people there gravitated towards, or did other potters like Linda Christianson work, work, and do more work to help get that style established. With that thought there is the wood firer’s of Carolina and their history. I think Eric Botbyl/ Companion Gallery has created something in a digital age that is a clean, and tight aesthetic. Which I wonder what the future of galleries look like with more potter’s going digital and selling their work online will be. Tony Clennell in his book wrote about the experience of his retail shop, people going into the shop for an experience and getting that. Digitally galleries are able to do that with call for entries and show’s which Companion Gallery definitely does that well.
I live close to Montana and they have a pretty nice clay scene also. Red Lodge Clay Center is where I go to get all of my glaze materials, and they always have a good show going on with incredible artists/pots in their show room. I also make sure to make it up to the Archie Bray every year in Helena for a workshop and just to feel inundated with the history of makers there. Their residency program is incredible, but there is something about the history of the Bray and seeing all of the pots that have been left on the grounds that just seeps into you while your there. Helena is great because potters end up making it to the Bray, and then never leaving Helena. So Helena is definitely a melting….pot of potters and styles.
For the other parts of the country I don’t know much about them and I hope to figure it out in the future. I live in Wyoming and there are little splashes of a clay scene, but it doesn’t feel like much of an identity here for potters. A big goal of mine is to change that. I have started a campaign to raise funds for a state anagama kiln, built by Simon Levin in Sheridan planned for fall of 2021. This would be mainly for high school students to be able to experience this type of firing and a networking/community building project. Bringing students/people/artists together from all over the state to fire. I believe that’s where it starts. Get high school students or younger kids interested. Plant that seed and give them an unforgettable experience. They are impacted by that, and hopefully go learn and grow - and then if we’re lucky come back and share that knowledge. Create a spark and some interest in clay. Once one wood kiln is made hopefully that area can have multiple kilns and atmospheres built. Maybe a small residency. Create that interest, and also document that and make sure to share it with the people around us to keep the flame alive and growing. That’s the goal. Create a scene, and get people interested.
This post was a little more rambling, but some goals and thoughts on creating an atmosphere for clay.