A brief history of the Archie Bray Foundations for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana. Steven Young Lee has been the resident artist director of the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana since 2006. In 2004-05, he lectured and taught at numerous universities throughout China as part of a one-year cultural and educational exchange in Jingdezhen, Shanghai, and Beijing. In 2005-06 he was a visiting professor at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. In March 2013 he participated on a panel, “Americans in the Porcelain City,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 2013, he was one of several international artists invited to participate in “New Blue and White,” an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston that featured contemporary artists working in the blue-and-white tradition of ceramic production. In the Fall of 2016, his work was featured as part of the Renwick Invitational at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Steve received his BFA and MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University. www.archiebray.org This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
“Rudy Autio, one of the important figures in the contemporary clay movement beginning in the 1950s, discusses his early days growing up in a Finnish immigrant family in Butte, Montana, his time in the Navy at the end of WWII, the start of the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, with Peter Voulkos, and his building methods of early murals using brickyard clay. Later he helped K Ross Toole, the new director of Montana Historical Society Museum in Helena, with a number of dioramas there in 1954, especially the Lewis and Clark diorama. He then was hired at University of Montana in Missoula to build a ceramics program by President McFarland. He discusses noteworthy students he learned from during his 28-year teaching career and various commissions he built during those years, like the Grizzly, the ceramic murals for Polson, Walla Walla, and Helena. In the 1970s workshops in ceramics demonstrations became popular, especially after the first SuperMud conference, and Rudy describes some of these. Later chapters explore his first trips to Finland, meeting relatives and artists alike. He discusses ways his work changed throughout his life. About the author (2019): Rudy is considered one of the most important and influential ceramic artists to ever touch the medium of clay. His masterful works are in permanent collections of museums around the world, including the American Craft Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Carnegie Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Portland Art Museum, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian, the St Lousi Art Museum, and others. Rudy Autio has left an indelible mark on the world with his art. He taught ceramics and sculpture at the University of Montana in Missoula from 1957 to 1985, and is best known for his figurative work on clay.” –Jason Lawfer
We are pleased to be holding our 12th annual international call for entries, Beyond the Brickyard.
The selected works will be exhibited at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT, in early 2020.
This year’s exhibition will be juried by Chis Staley.
Specifications
The competition is open internationally to ceramic artists 18 years of age or older.
Current residents of the Bray may not apply.
Artists may submit up to 3 works for consideration, and up to 2 images of each piece (one complete photo plus one detail or alternate angle).
All artwork must be for sale and available during the time of exhibition.
The artwork exhibited must be the same piece(s) submitted for consideration.
Submitted artwork must not exceed 24” in any direction or weigh more than 35 lbs.
The artwork entered should be prepared for professional display and not so fragile as to be potentially dangerous to the work or others when shipped/displayed/handled with reasonable care.
Artists are responsible for cost of shipping selected work(s) to the Archie Bray Foundation (ABF). Artists are responsible for their own insurance for shipping to ABF and during the time that artwork resides here. ABF will assume cost and shipping insurance for the return of any unsold work.
For good image quality and a fast upload, your image files should be sized at and no larger than
1800 x 1800 pixels at 72 dpi (approximately 6″ x 6″ at 300 dpi)
Applying
Submissions to Beyond the Brickyard will only be accepted online. By clicking on the link at the bottom of the page you will be taken to Slideroom.com which will allow you to register and upload your images.
Submissions can be edited and are not officially submitted until you choose the “Complete Submission” tab and enter your payment method.
Submissions must be received online by midnight MDT, September 15, 2019.
Entry Fee
The cost of entering Beyond the Brickyard is $35 USD for up to 3 works.
All major credit cards are accepted.
Awards
From the successful entrants, three awards will be selected:
Juror’s Choice Award: $400
Director’s Choice Award: $400
People’s Choice Award: $100
Sales Commission
Artists will receive 50% commission of their work sold during exhibition, while ABF will retain 50%.
Exhibition Schedule
All applicants agree to the following schedule if selected to exhibit:
Applications due September 15, 2019
Entrants notified of jury results by email no later than October 31, 2019
Work to be received by Archie Bray Foundation by November 18, 2019
Work exhibited in Beyond the Brickyard, January–March 2020
Questions about your application? For technical support please contact [email protected]
For questions about submission information please contact [email protected]
Your completed application must be received on or before September 15, 2019.
Recently I had the upmost pleasure to chat with Megan Black from the Canadian Craft Federation and Benjamin Kikkert, internationally known glass artist, on the Citizens of Craft Podcast. Join us for a listen as we talk about the makers behind the objects and so much more! This is the final episode in an amazing series of podcasts. Oh and if you haven’t gotten addicted yet to the Netflix series Blown Away – I suggest you go binge watch that one. Benjamin is on the show and creates so absolutely amazing work. I’ve only had the pleasure of working in a glass hot shop once in my life up in Whitehorse at Lumel Studios (totally worth the trip!), and can attest to how difficult glass work is. I’m always fascinated to watch artists work under pressure and time constraints so Blown Away is super addictive TV.
And I’ve just gotten word that there are only a few spots left in a workshop I have the honor of co-presenting with the incredibly talented Sue Tirrell (enter all the fan girl squeals here!). We’re going to be having a blast at the Archie Bray this September and I’d love to have you join us for this workshop!
Find out more here on the Archie Bray website and I’ll hopefully see you in September!
