Media contact: Janet Blixt, (218) 723-4743, j.blixt@lsc.edu or Gary Kruchowski, (218) 733-7649, g.kruchowski@lsc.edu
For immediate release: July 10, 2007
(Duluth, Minn.) - A first-ever wood fire ceramics conference organized by Lake Superior College will feature demonstrations, lectures, exhibits, and ongoing wood fire pottery making by artists from China, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Participating artists include Brock Allen, Holly Anderson, Dorian Beaulieu, Tonya Borgeson, Dick Cooter, Dan Edmunds, Craig Edwards, Bill Gossman, Sara Haugen, Elaine Henry, Bob Husby, J.D. Jorgenson, James Klueg, Karin Kraemer, Lu Pinchang, Huang Qiang-Hua, Lenore Rukavina, Lou Xiao-Fen, Jacob Zeiher, and Wenzhi Zhang.
As part of an international exchange program at Lake Superior College, twenty artists/teachers and art students from Beijing and Guangzhou art schools will participate and teach at the conference.
Wood fire kiln pottery is an age-old tradition traced back thousands of years in Asia and the Middle East. Because of the variations in kiln temperatures and influences such as wood ash and smoke, the resulting product is highly unpredictable. Surface color and texture vary greatly in wood fire pottery. This volatility makes the process a magical one.
Presenter highlights include Wenzhi Zhang, considered one of the most important contemporary Chinese ceramic artists working today. Zhang has exhibited her work from Paris to New York. Zhang studied at the Guangzhou Fine Art Academy where she now teaches in the ceramics program she started. Her work is held in public institutions, galleries and private collections across the globe, including Lake Superior College, Guangzhou Art College, and the Ministry of the Culture of China. She is currently working on a commissioned sculpture for the new LSC Academic and Student Services building to open this fall.
Professor Lu Pinchang, a high profile Chinese ceramics instructor, will also demonstrate and discuss his work. Lu Pinchang is the head of the sculpture department of the highly respected Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. His work has been exhibited throughout China, Hong Kong, and in the United States. He is the subject of a documentary film, “Lu Pinchang and the Course of Contemporary Ceramic Arts in China.” He has guest lectured at many American universities and participated in numerous artist exchanges throughout the world.
Free public events include:
Tuesday, July 17
5-6:30 p.m. Conference opening artists’ exhibit and reception. Lake Superior College Art Building, 2nd floor.
7-9 p.m. Professor Lu Pinchang, Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts, slide lecture. Tweed Museum, University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Friday, July 20
6-8 p.m. “Midwest Mud Mania III” wood fire pottery and sculpture exhibit and reception, Washington Studio, Duluth. Includes regional artists Stephanie Adams, Phil Ahnen, Tonya Borgeson, Ryan Casey, Mary Coffey, Jim Edelen, Kate Fisher, Ron Gallas, Brandon Lutterman, Chris Rodi and Jacob Zeiher
Sat. July 21
5-7 p.m. Artist Jacob Zeiher, wood fire pottery and sculpture exhibit at the Snoodle Ceramic Studio & Gallery, 7107 Grand Ave., Duluth.
Tuesday, July 24 LSC Community Day
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Open studio community visitation day at Lake Superior College. The public is welcome to visit with potters and watch studio activities, including pit firings and experimental kilns. During the day, a giant pottery piece will be built by all workshop participants to commemorate the wood fire conference. Demonstrations of guest artists producing work at designated locations include potter Bill Gossman from 9 a.m. to noon in the LSC studio, and potter J. D. Jorgenson from 2 to 5 p.m. in the LSC studio.
Wednesday, July 25
7-9 p.m. “Trial by Fire,” new works by Dan Edmunds. Opening exhibit and reception at Red Mug/Duluth Pottery/North End Arts Council, 916 Hammond Avenue, Superior, Wisconsin.
For more information on the conference, including registration, check out www.lsc.edu
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