San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts

Ceramic Invitational

CLAY TIME IN SAN ANGELO

On April 20, 2007 the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts will open a range of exhibits featuring the work of contemporary ceramic artists. The exhibits include Different Directions: Coming Together in Clay, featuring the work of Gail Busch, Robert Farmer, Louis Katz, Suze Lindsay, Kent McLaughlin and Hasuyo Miller, Multiplicity:Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture organized by the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Gallery at the University of Texas at El Paso and Danville Chadbourne: Outdoor Ceramic Sculpture. The Opening Reception for the exhibits is scheduled for Friday, April 20 from 6 to 9 pm.

The opening of these shows is just one event in the many that will be taking place in San Angelo April 19 - 23, 2007. Things start off on Thursday afternoon with a new workshop by clay artist Randy Brodnax. Art instructor at Cedar Valley College in Lancaster, TX, Randy has been leading workshops at San Angelo's ceramic weekend for many years. The workshop costs $25 per person and participants will cut, weld, fabricate and fire the kilns.

Early Friday morning at 8 a.m. a ceramic workshop will be held at the Angelo State University Ceramics Facility located adjacent to the Fine Arts Museum. There is no charge for the workshop, which will run till 10 a.m. Later that day, Friday's activities continue with the Twenty-Second Annual Ceramic Symposium which is held from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Carr Education-Fine Arts Building on the campus of Angelo State University. The Ceramic Symposium is co-sponsored by Angelo State University, Trinity Ceramic Supply, Inc., the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, and The Old Chicken Farm Art Center. Serving as Symposium Coordinator is Esteban Apodaca, Assistant Professor of Art in Ceramics at Angelo State University. Panelists for the Symposium will be this year's invited artists, Gail Busch, Danville Chadbourne, Robert Farmer, Louis Katz, Suze Lindsay, Kent McLaughlin and Hasuyo Miller, as well as Kate Bonansinga, Director of the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Arts, at the University of Texas, El Paso. Howard Taylor, Director of the Fine Arts Museum, will serve as moderator. The first part of the Symposium will focus on each artist speaking on his or her work as well as curator Kate Bonansinga talking about the field of ceramic sculpture. After a break for refreshments, the final session will be an open forum with the audience.

Immediately following the Symposium will be an Opening Reception for the exhibit, 16th Annual Angelo State University Ceramic Invitational which is held at the Houston Harte University Center from 4:30 to 6 p.m. This show is curated by ASU Assistant Professor Esteban Apodaca and includes ceramic works by ceramic students from several colleges and universities from across the southwestern United States. The reception is hosted by the University Program Council and is open to the public free of charge.

Friday's festivities will culminate with the Opening Reception at the Fine Arts Museum, which runs from 6 to 9 PM. In addition to the reception at the art museum the J. Walker Gallery located at 221 S. Chadbourne will open their exhibit titled, New Beginnings, featuring the work of ceramic artists Danville Chadbourne, Louis Greco, Rick Irwin and Pat Johnson. The Coop Gallery, located at 427 Oakes Street (in front of the Art Museum) will be the site for the opening of Friends of Friends, an invitational ceramic exhibit, which is curated by Jim Bob Salazar, ceramic professor at Sul Ross State University. To round out the evening, the Texas Mesquite Art Festival - San Angelo will be held at the Fort Concho National Historic Monument. All venues are within walking distance and free transportation by trolley will be available.

On Saturday, April 21, a day-long ceramic workshop will be held at the Old Chicken Farm Art Center. The six invited artists from the exhibit Different Directions, Gail Busch, Robert Farmer, Louis Katz, Suze Lindsay, Kent McLaughlin and Hasuyo Miller will each demonstrate their individual techniques. Cost for the workshop is $45 per person, though for full time students the cost is $25. Many of the Art Center studios will also be open with new work on exhibit. The Gecko Gallery will be featuring the 2007 Kiln God National, an exhibition of kiln gods with Jim Bob Salazar, Associate Professor of Art at Sul Ross State University, as juror. Starkeeper Gallery will have on display the work of Bridget Hauser, Randy Brodnax and others, while Vicki Harden Studio will be showing New Work and Art6Degrees will have an exhibit titled Eclecticism. To round out the days events Roger Allen and The Old Chicken Farm Art Center will host a Texas Barbecue Dinner on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. The barbecue dinner costs $15.00 per plate.

The final event of Ceramics Week will be held on Monday, April 23, at 12 noon. At this time Roger Allen, Director of the Old Chicken Farm Art Center, will lead a Walk-Talk through the ceramic exhibits, commenting on the work and answering questions.

The Museum is grateful for the continued support of the ceramic exhibits by and Darlene and John Williams of Trinity Ceramic Supply, Inc. of Dallas, Texas.

All events are free and open to the public excluding the Saturday night Barbecue Dinner ($15), the Saturday day-long Workshop ($45), and the Randy Brodnax Workshop ($25). For more information call the museum at 653-3333.

Registration Form

The museum is supported by generous contributions from both individuals and businesses. This project is partially supported by funds from the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council, the City of San Angelo, the Texas Commission on the Arts, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.