Exhibit celebrates Bloomington ceramicists after ‘Ten Years’

From provocative terra cotta female figures to pieces featuring scenes of nature and wildlife, the Bloomington arts scene celebrated 10 years of artistry in ceramics with works from local potters. \nThe John Waldron Arts Center started its 2008 season Jan. 4 with “Ten Years After,” an exhibition that honors and celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the Local Clay Potters’ Guild. \nThe guild is an organization that works to support and encourage ceramic arts and artists, according to the Bloomington Area Arts Council Web site.\nThe exhibition, located in the Rosemary P. Miller Gallery of the arts center, showcases the works of about 30 professional artists. It provides ceramicists of Bloomington with the opportunity to display their works and gain local recognition. The Local Clay Potters’ Guild and the Bloomington Area Arts Council encourage the artists to further their abilities and learn more about their art and they also promoted arts throughout the community. \n“I think that it’s really nice for them to have a chance to show more sculptural work as a change from the many times that, within selling their works, they really have to do functional ceramics,” Pamela Keech, the executive director of the Bloomington Area Arts Council.\nGuild president Karen Green Stone, whose work will also be featured in the exhibit, said the 10-year-old guild developed from a show held in 1997 called “Local Clay.” The show, much like the current exhibit, was held at the John Waldron Arts Center and featured the work of 28 local potters. The show was organized by local potters Barb Bihler and three co-curators: which included Stone, Tena Wenta and Susan Snyder, Stone said. \nAfter the show was a “smashing success,” she and the other co-curators decided to take the show “to the next step,” Stone said.\nThe curators asked everyone who had been in the show if they wanted to become part of a guild. Some did, some didn’t, Stone said. Later that year, the guild held its first annual holiday show and sale and has “been building on that success ever since,” Stone said.\nFor this celebratory anniversary show, the guild has invited everyone who is a current or former member of the organization to submit their works for display, Stone said. She said the exhibit will feature potters’ submissions from many different areas, including one from Tomas Owen, who resides in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.\nThe potters’ exhibition will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays through Jan. 26. It is free to the public.