Seagrove, NC - This on-going lecture series will be facilitated by Josh Floyd, the new Artist-in-Residence at the center. Josh comes to the center with a Bachelor of Arts with Art Concentration from Fairmont State University in West Virginia, and he has been making pots for over ten years. He studied for two years as an Artist-in-Residence at the Cub Creek Foundation in Appomattox, VA, and has worked two years as a studio and gallery assistant for Smicksburg Pottery in Pennsylvania. He has also been a studio assistant at the Penland School of Craft. Before accepting the position as the North Carolina Pottery Center’s AiR, he was working for the Laguna Clay Company in Byesville, OH, testing clays and glazes. “The goal of these talks is to engage the local pottery community and help to foster networking opportunities with presenters and the audience, while exposing the local artists and the community to influences outside of our region,” according to Josh.
Lindsey Lambert, executive director, says, “Having Josh as our new AiR is literally a breath of fresh air. He will enable us to offer more educational programs and workshops, things which help us better fulfill our mission of promoting awareness and appreciation of the history, heritage and ongoing tradition of pottery making in our great state. This is a wonderful opportunity for the public and potters to meet out new Artist in Residence and enjoy an evening of NC pottery education and entertainment. ”
The first potter to present in this series is Seagrove potter Fred Johnston. Fred is a well-known, lively personality and story teller. According to Fred, “As a potter I will talk about developing and creating an ongoing vision for my work. Being an art museum junkie, I recently visited the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco which has the most comprehensive collection of Asian ceramics in the western world. I photographed many examples that will be presented as well as other cultural influences.”
Future topics of the series include; Regional and National Ceramic Artists, Curators and Authors. A more detailed schedule will be posted shortly.
FRED JOHNSTON BIO
Fred learned to make pots in the Seagrove area in the 1980’s. Working odd jobs around the different potteries, Fred worked for many of the old Seagrove pottery families: Owen, Teague, Chrisco, and McCanless. This experience was the catalyst for Fred’s commitment and passion to the pottery vernacular, which turned into an adventure and education. After attending Montgomery Community College, Fred went on to attend the New York State School of Ceramics at Alfred University where he received a BFA with honors and then a MFA from the College of Art & Architecture at Penn State University. He was artist in resident at Arrowmont School of Arts in Tennessee, the Sanbao Ceramic Institute in Jingdezhen,China and ArtLink in Tallin, Estonia. In 1997 Fred and his wife Carol Gentithes established Johnston & Gentithes Art Pottery in Seagrove, NC where they presently make and sell their work. His work is exhibited nationally and internationally and is in the permanent collection of the North Carolina Pottery Center, the Hermitage Museum and Mint Museum.
Schedule: 7pm to 9pm, Friday, October 17th
Meet & Greet from 7 pm to 8pm, a social hour, with a slide presentation to follow.
Location – NCPC Educational Building located behind the NCPC at 233 East Avenue, Seagrove, 27341
Exhibitions are made possible through the generosity of our membership, the Mary and Elliott Wood Foundation, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the Windgate Charitable Foundation, and the John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation. This project was supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Thank you!
The mission of the North Carolina Pottery Center is to promote public awareness of and appreciation for the history, heritage, and ongoing tradition of pottery making in North Carolina.
The Center is located at 233 East Avenue in Seagrove, NC. Hours of operation are Tue - Sat 10 am - 4 pm. For more information, please call 336.873.8430, visit ncpotterycenter.org, or find us on Facebook.
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