This year, the National Council on Education of Ceramic Arts held their annual conference on March 25th-28th in Providence, Rhode Island, and not being able to attend nearly drove a stake through my heart. My only consolation was the mass amounts of social media sharing of various artists and friends that were fortunate enough to be there and through whom I lived vicariously. The conference is an incredibly important event where individuals come together to celebrate clay, experience the work of exceptional artists, and discuss new innovations in regards to noteworthy ceramic techniques, inventive tools and their development, education, opportunities for residencies and further experience, and much more.

The conference brings in various artists to speak each year, but it also maintains a healthy dose of consistency in regards to the program. I was thrilled to see photos of the annual cup sale, where artists can submit a cup to be displayed among hundreds, if not thousands, of other submissions laid out on long tables. A panel of judges awards the top three submissions with awards and the rest are available for purchase. That alone is a perfect way to gain some inspiration, looking through the different approaches to the simple cup. I was also interested to hear about the various galleries included on the gallery tour. The theme, Lively Experiments, seemed fitting, being surrounded by artists who are pushing the medium to its limits in a variety of different ways every day. I was so yearning to be in the midst of such a high concentration of learned artists, but even more reason to look forward to next year in Kansas City! I have high aspirations to make attending a reality in 2016!

Visit the NCECA website for more information about the annual conference, and I’d love to hear from you if you were able to attend yourself! Until next time!