Tom Belden and Gary Greenberg

Eigth Annual South Texas Ceramic Showdown presented by STC Library Art Gallery

South Texas College’s Library Art Gallery partners with the college’s Visual Art Department and the University of Texas-Pan American in order to present the RGV’s eighth annual ceramics exhibition and conference, “Challenging Conventions: A South Texas Ceramic Showdown.” The full exhibition includes collaborative pieces from 12 universities and community colleges. The pieces will be at both the STC Library and UTPA’s Visual Art Gallery.

The exhibit will be on view from June 11-August 7, 2015. A special ceramic art talk by, Tom Belden of Central Arizona College and Gary Greenberg Clarion University of Pennsylvania, will take place on Thursday, June 11 from 5-6 p.m. just before the opening reception which is being held from 6-8 p.m. at STC’s Pecan Campus Library, located at 3201 West Pecan Blvd. in McAllen. The following day at UTPA there will be a free, two-day conference and workshop taking place on Friday, June 12 and ending Saturday, June 13 at UTPA’s Visual Arts Building Ceramics Lab. All activities are free and open to the public.

“We are back in action for our fifth go around of ceramic collaboration. There are a number of variables that we are putting in place with our own facilities being upgraded here at STC this summer so we are collaborating with UTPA to put on the show and workshop,” said Chris Leonard, STC ceramics instructor and exhibit/workshop organizer. “People across the state and even the nation are putting things in place and into kilns in order to make the show happen very soon.”

The conference includes clay demonstrations and talks by nationally recognized and distinguished ceramic artists, Tom Belden of Central Arizona College and Gary Greenberg of Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Both ceramicists are M.F.A. graduates of Arizona State University, and they bring with them over 40 years of experience exhibiting nationwide, teaching, and working in the medium. Among Tom Belden’s vast accomplishments, he was instrumental in establishing Central Arizona College’s Gallery, and he has served as gallery director and curator for the past fourteen years at Central Arizona College. Gary Greenberg’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the University of Missouri, Adams State College in Colorado and the Stretch Gallery in North Carolina to name a few. Greenberg serves as director of Disco Inferno, the tri-annual firings of the Clarion University wood-fired, anagama kiln.

“We are continuing with a paired show format; plus the institutional invite will be back along with a pair of visiting artists, Belden and Greenberg.” Leonard said. “It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be educational. It’s going to open some eyes and minds.”

Participating institutions include Texas A&M University-Kingsville, The University of Central Missouri, The University of Texas-San Antonio, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Texas Tech University, The University of Texas at Brownsville, The University of Texas-Pan American, Kent State University, Mesa Community College, South Texas College, Tarrant County College, Cuyahoga Community College.

South Texas College’s Library Art Gallery Program exhibits regional, national and international artwork, explores new visions and theories of creativity, and introduces innovative artistic expressions to the South Texas region.

For more information contact Gina R. Otvos at 956-872-3488 or email gotvos@southtexascollege.edu. For a complete listing of exhibits, visit library.southtexascollege.edu/libraryartgallery.

South Texas College’s Library Art Gallery, together with the college’s Visual Arts and Music Department, brings the Rio Grande Valley its annual ceramics exhibition and workshop, “Calculated Efforts: A South Texas Ceramic Showdown.” All activities are free and open to the public.

The event includes a full display of ceramic works by art students and professors from regional universities and community colleges. The exhibit will be on view from June 2 to Aug. 8 at the college’s Pecan Campus Art Building Art Gallery, located at 3201 West Pecan Blvd. in McAllen.

A two-day ceramics workshop will take place on June 13 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1:30 – 4:30 p.m., and June 14 at 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at STC’s Pecan Campus Art Building (Bldg. B) Ceramics Lab, Room 113. Art talks will be held on Saturday, June 14 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. at the same location. An exhibit reception will be held on June 12 in the Visual Arts and Music Gallery and the Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery from 6-8 p.m.

“We are back in action for another round of ceramic collaboration. There are a number of variables that we are putting in place,” said Chris Leonard, STC ceramics instructor and exhibit/workshop organizer. “Actually, people across the state and even nation are putting things in place and into kilns in order to make the show happen in the summer.”

Participants will see clay demonstrations by nationally recognized and distinguished ceramicists Fred Spaulding and Jennifer Quarles.

“We are continuing with a paired show format; the institutional invite will be back along with a pair of visiting artists, Jennifer Quarles from Austin and Fred Spaulding, who at one time taught at UTPA and will be rolling down from Arlington,” Leonard said. “Their work should harmonize well while also providing interesting levels of contrast. In their ceramic work, which isn’t the entirety of all that they produce, both artists use aspects of printmaking, photography, and graphic arts in creating work that both touches and transcends tradition.”

Spaulding earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut. He is currently associate professor of art at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth and has completed further study through residencies at Kohler’s Arts in iron casting and Penland’s Winter Residency in Printmaking. Spaulding continues to work, exploring the possibilities of constructed structures of brick.

Quarles earned her Master of Fine Arts from Texas Women’s University. Since 2002, her work has been featured in both regional and national exhibitions. In addition, Quarles works with the Texas Clay Arts Association (TCAA), a non-profit organization that promotes ceramics in Texas. Her work explores our constant drive to record and share information, as well as our inherent desire to connect to one another.

STC’s Library Art Gallery exhibits regional, national and international artwork, explores new visions and theories of creativity, and introduces innovative artistic expressions to the South Texas region.

For more information contact Dawn Haughey at (956) 872-3488, or via email at dhaughey@southtexascollege.edu or Chris Leonard at (956) 872-2668, or via email at cpleonar@southtexascollege.edu or visit http://library.southtexascollege.edu/newsevents/libraryartgallery/.

STC’s Library Art Gallery and the Visual Arts & Music Department present “A South Texas Ceramic Showdown: Clear as Mud.” This is the seventh year we’ve collaborated with VAM on the Ceramic Showdown, and this one is going to be great. We will be featuring ceramic works by nationally recognized and distinguished ceramicists Kirk Mangus and Billy Ritter.

Mangus earned his Master of Fine Arts from Washington State University. He has been the Head of Ceramics at Kent State University since 1985 and has taught at numerous institutions including the Cleveland Institute of Art and the University of Georgia Athens Cortona, Italy Program.

Ritter earned his Master of Fine Arts from Kent State University. He currently works as a Ceramics Instructor/Ceramic Lab Technician at the Art House Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio and as a Ceramics Instructor at the Orange Art Center in Pepper Pike, Ohio.

An exhibit reception will be held on June 6 in the Visual Arts and Music Gallery and the Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery from 6 to 8 pm, respectively. A two-day ceramics workshop will be held June 7th from 9 am – 12 pm and 1:30 – 4:30 pm and June 8th at 9 am – 12 pm at STC’s Pecan Campus Art Building Ceramics Lab, Room 113. Art talks will take place Saturday, June 8 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. The exhibit will remain on display until August 12, 2013.

The Library Art Gallery is also proud to present “Machistas Y Vanidad” (“Macho and Vanity”), an exhibit featuring artwork by Noel Palmenez. This exhibit addresses a person’s exterior appearance and how we wish ourselves to be perceived. It also dissects what it means to be “macho.”

Noel Palmenez earned an MS from Texas A&M University and an MFA from The University at Texas Pan-American in painting, drawing and sculpture. He currently teaches at UTB Brownsville.

The exhibit opens Thursday, June 6 and will be on view through Friday, August 12, 2013. Artist talks will be held on the opening day at 2:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. at the Pecan Campus Library Rainbow Room. Reception will follow from 6 pm – 8 pm on the library’s 1st floor.

Lectures and receptions are always free and open to the public! Please see the flyer below and be sure to share it with your friends and family.

For more information contact Gina Otvos at 956-872-3488 or libraryart@southtexascollege.edu, or visit the Library Art Gallery website.

Howdy Readers! If you’ve wandered the halls of the Pecan Campus Library this June, you may have noticed our two fantastic new art installations! If you haven’t, come by the second floor and check out these exhibits. They are definitely something different, and it’s free!

One of these exhibits, hosted within the Library Art Gallery, is the Ceramics Showdown, and will only be available for viewing until July 1st:

For more information about these exhibits or the Library Art Gallery contact:

Sofia K. Vestweber

(956) 872-3488

libraryart@southtexascollege.edu

Or visit the Library Art Gallery at http://library.southtexascollege.edu/newsevents/libraryartgallery/

Poster featuring ceramic artwork by Fulden Sara-Wissinger (left), Aaron Calvert (center), and Charles Wissinger (right).

South Texas College, together with The University of Texas Pan-American, is proud to present “A South Texas Ceramic Showdown: Beyond the Vessel,” which is the third annual Rio Grande Valley ceramics conference and exhibition. The event includes art lectures and ceramics demonstrations, as well as a full display of ceramics works by artists and professors from across Texas. The conference starts Friday, June 12 at The University of Texas-Pan American Ceramics Lab, concluding on Saturday, June 13 at STC’s Pecan Campus Art Bldg. B Ceramics Lab. Art Lectures will also take place Saturday at STC’s Pecan Campus Bldg. B Auditorium. All activities are free and open to the public.”This is the third conference STC and UTPA have put together and we look forward to being enlightened by an ever younger generation of ceramic artists, discovering their creative, inspired approaches of pushing the boundaries of innovation,” said David Freeman, curator and programs coordinator of STC’s Library Art Gallery Program. “The show explores the influences of our Southern continental United States and its individual, extensive point of view regarding contemporary issues in the devolvement, expression, concept, personal exploration and experimentation of different processes and unique aesthetics in contemporary ceramics today.”

“We are excited to roll out the South Texas Ceramic Showdown once again and witness its evolution over the last three years,” said Chris Leonard, UTPA ceramics lecturer and conference organizer. “The concept is the same with both student and faculty work exhibited together with a promise for great diversity. The event is also a fantastic opportunity for ceramic students, as it offers an opportunity for creative interaction, and communication with our three presenting artists. All three presenting artists are tremendously versatile, but I am anticipating an acceptance of the ceramic tradition: vessels that transcend and push beyond mere function into all sorts of narration and possibility.”

The conference includes lectures and ceramic demonstrations by Aaron Calvert of Henderson State University, Charles Wissinger of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and Fulden Sara-Wissinger of Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Coastal Bend College.

Half of the ceramic works will be exhibited at STC’s Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery with the balance being exhibited at UTPA’s Vistor Center. Exhibit opening receptions are on Friday, June 12th from 6 to 8 p.m. at UTPA’s Visitor Center and Saturday, June 13th from 6 to 8 p.m. at STC’s Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery. Admission is free and open to the public. The exhibits will be on view from June 1 to July 3, 2009 at their respective locations.

The exhibit features works by faculty and students from 11 universities and community colleges including The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, South Texas College, The University of Texas Pan-American, The University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas Tech University, The University of North Texas, Henderson State University, Tyler Junior College, and Tarrant County College.

For more information call 872-3488.