We offer our collective thanks to all of you who engaged with NCC to view lectures or purchase pots for the Virtual NCECA conference in March. Each year, the in-person NCECA week is one of my favorite weeks of the year because we get to interact with so many more artists, collectors, peers, and just the curious, then we ever could on our own soil. “Walking” into the virtual expo hall was surprisingly triggering in all the best ways and reminded me of how valuable this conference can be. With over 2000 registered attendees, your purchases of nearly 300 pots, views of hundreds more, and over 150 visits to the Virtual Exhibition on our site, we were able to help keep income streams open for artists and introduce new works and makers to a larger audience. Thank you to the 2021 American Pottery Festival Artists, Guest Artists, Grant Recipients, and Gallery Artists who trusted us with your wares and allowed us to feature an exciting offering for this event.
We’d also like to offer a special thanks to the artists who graciously gave their time to speak during the Gallery Expo Artist Lectures: Clarice Allgood, MN NICE Alumni & Fogelberg Fellow; Christina Erives, Guest Artist; Randy Schutt, Guest Artist; and Daniel Velasquez, APF 2021 Artist. We have links to their talks on our website for your viewing! Additional thanks must go to the staff and interns who somehow kept pace in the early, dark, and cold months of 2021, and not only launched a brand new website, but also prepared over 800 works for the online gallery. And, lastly, thank you to those of you at NCECA who managed a mountain of challenges to somehow bring people together for an educational event in entirely new ways. I really hope we get to see you all next year.
Always,
Tippy Maurant
Deputy Director Director of Galleries & Exhibitions