April 12th and 13th marked the sixteenth year of Skyline College ceramics students’ participation in the annual California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art in Davis. The conference, hosted by the John Natsoulas Center for the Arts, provided 32 colleges and art schools with spaces to showcase their student’s ceramic artwork. Each school is provided a space in downtown Davis to transform into a gallery for the weekend. Skyline College was in a large exhibition hall with many other institutions; our exhibition neighbors this year were Solano Community College and Santa Ana College.
As a capstone project for intermediate-level ceramics classes, participating students shared their conceptual inspirations, ideas, and techniques with visitors. The large variety of school exhibitions presented a beneficial opportunity for students to connect with instructors and current students from potential transfer colleges. In addition to attending the student shows, several local galleries held national ceramics exhibitions featuring a wide range of ceramic artwork from professionals in the ceramics field. This community of passionate ceramic artists provides an engaged environment for expanding one’s knowledge of clay’s creative possibilities.
Skyline’s Student Ceramic Exhibition featured clay pottery and sculpture, representing our students’ vast creative and technical span. One featured piece was a sculpture by Hilary Rowen, “Coastside Impressions,” a wall mural incorporating fiber art elements. Hilary’s artist statement explains her inspirations: “The mural tiles capture different aspects of the Coastside: a setting sun, plants and trees, hillsides, and water.” Viewers appreciated the abstract design and intricate mixed-media details.
The student exhibition was collaboratively co-curated by Tiffany Schmierer, Art Professor, Ash Asaro, Studio Art Lab Coordinator, and the ceramics students. Ash also exhibited his sculpture in the Skyline show, and Tiffany’s sculpture was on display at the John Natsoulas Gallery.
Photos by: Tiffany Schmierer
Article by: Ash Asaro and Tiffany Schmierer
