2025 Guest Juror: George Rodriguez
Born and raised in the border city of El Paso, TX, George Rodriguez creates highly ornamented, ceramic sculptures, often underlined by a connection to sociopolitical themes. His guardian figures, tomb sculptures, and installations, commemorate and build community. His most recent projects include a permanent installation at the new Kansas City International Airport, a community tile mural at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and an outdoor public sculpture at CASA of Maryland, an immigration advocacy organization in Baltimore. His work has shown extensively throughout the U.S. including the Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Canton Art Museum, Canton, OH; amongst others. His sculptures are part of the collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; the University of Washington's Paul G. Allen College of Computer Science and Engineering, Seattle, WA; Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C. and the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden amongst others. Rodriguez holds a BFA from the University of Texas El Paso and an MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle. He is an Assistant Professor at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia and was featured on PBS Craft in America "Storytellers" episode.
2024 Guest Juror: Garth Johnson
Writer, curator, and educator Garth Johnson is the Paul Phillips and Sharon Sullivan Curator of Ceramics at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York. Before arriving at the Everson, Johnson served as the Curator of Ceramics at the Arizona State University Ceramics Research Center. Johnson has also exhibited his work and published his writing nationally and internationally, including contributions to the recent books Funk published by Natsoulas Press and Funk You Too: Humor and Irreverence in Ceramic Sculpture published by the Museum of Arts and Design.
Johnson is a self-described craft activist who explores craft’s influence and relevance in the 21st century. His research interests range from 1960s and 70s artist-led movements in the field of ceramics to the intersection of clay, video, and performance. His exhibitions at the Everson include Renegades & Reformers: American Art Pottery, Earth Piece: Conceptual and Performative Works in Clay and Key Figures: Representational Ceramics 1932-1972.
2023 Guest Juror: Kyungmin Park
Kyungmin is an Associate Professor of 3D studio Art at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. Park was a long-term resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana where she earned 2014-2015 Matsutani Fellowship and 2015-2016 Windgate Fellowship. Originally from South Korea, Kyungmin earned her MFA in Ceramics from the University of Georgia in 2012 and her BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2008.
Kyungmin Park is a figurative ceramic sculptor drawing inspiration from childlike perspectives. Contrasting the darker emotions and restricted psyche of adulthood with the boundless consciousness of children, Kyungmin’s sculptures confront the viewer with uncomfortable juxtapositions, encouraging reflection upon personal expectations and narratives.
2022 Guest Juror: Sanam Emami
This year, we are honored to have Sanam Emami join us as the Guest Juror for the 2022 Resident Artist Application. Emami is a highly successful artist and Associate Professor of Art at Colorado State University at Fort Collins.
Ideas come from different places; a book, a conversation or a glimpse of something familiar like a favorite historical pot that can seem new, as if seen for the first time. The studio space is where the concepts and inspiration take shape and become tangible and dimensional. The concept of unity with variety is important. For example, combining soft marks and volumes with crisp edges and lines. I am interested in creating contrasting gestures that can coexist within a pot or a tile through mark making, symmetry and repeated patterns. Click here to learn more about her work.
Previous 2021 Guest Juror: Syd Carpenter
We were honored to have Syd Carpenter as our Guest Juror last year. Carpenter is Professor of Art, and Peggy Chan Professor in Black Studies at Swarthmore College.
Working as an artist has been the source of all that has been meaningful and a source of joy in my life. Art is my common ground around which revolves my interaction with family, teaching and community. The enthusiasm and commitment I bring to my teaching is an outcome of the level to which I am engaged in my art while community involvement allows me to share the value I place on the visual with those who may otherwise disregard its impact upon their lives. Family is a constant source of inspiration both as image and encouragement. I don't believe artists make the decision to become artists. They are born. The hope is that they find the will to pursue their vision, an environment in which to develop , and a culture respectful of their contributions.
Syd Carpenter's work is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Atlantic Richfield Corporation, Nabisco Brands, the University of Illinois, Art in General, New York, Philadelphia Convention Center, Bell Atlantic Corporation, Canton Ohio Museum of Art, Erie Museum of Art, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen China,and in numerous private collections. Click here to learn more about her work.
