NOVEMBER 19 – DECEMBER 31
Galusha Gallery
MN NICE was an advanced certificate program that provided rigorous, personalized instruction for artists who were serious about taking the next step in their ceramic education. The program was designed to respond to the changing needs of emerging makers and to give non-traditional students high-level training in ceramic materials, history and theory, and professional practice. Through instruction and individual mentorship, artists honed the skills, knowledge, and insight necessary to create a personal and cohesive body of work.
The 2022 – 23 MN NICE artists joined this program because a horizon line was taking shape for them, and they felt compelled to pursue a sharpened focus. They made an intense commitment to bring their work under a collective critical eye in the hopes of stepping toward a new future on terms they have defined through this program, with a new professional peer network, and a deeper understanding of the potential held by a daily life engaged in contemporary ceramics.
About the Artists
Jennifer Azzariti is a ceramic artist and educator living and working in Washington, DC. Clay has been her focus for more than ten years, evolving from life-long research of creative materials. Her hand-built, functional objects borrow inspiration and techniques from other material languages, like printmaking and origami, and incorporate sculptural elements inspired by the natural world. Azzariti holds a post-baccalaureate certificate in fine arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art and completed the Minnesota New Institute for Ceramic Education Program at Northern Clay Center in 2023.
Ray Caron received a BA in theatre arts in 1983 with an emphasis in art history. He returned to the University of Minnesota and completed a BFA in painting in 2003. He has devoted himself to ceramics for over 20 years, completing the MN NICE Program at Northern Clay Center in 2023. His current hand-built sculptures honor the earth as a living being and are based on the four elements–earth, water, air, and fire.
Lydia Gutowsky is currently based in Minneapolis, MN, and focuses on creating sculptural ceramics as well as selling functional work. She began making ceramics in high school and has continued her art through her early adulthood, majoring in ceramics and metal casting at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Gutowsky reflects on her childhood in her work, using colors, textures, and forms that speak to the comfort and discomfort felt in her youth. She is continuing this exploration as a member of the ninth cohort of the MN NICE Program at Northern Clay Center.
Ivy Mattson is a functional ceramicist based in Minneapolis, MN. Her wheel thrown and altered pottery is highly decorated, projecting joy, wonder, and curiosity–values that are echoed in her teaching practice. Mattson first experienced clay when earning her BA in art education at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. She was a ceramic studio artist at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND, exhibiting work and teaching art in Moorhead before recently moving to Minneapolis. She continues her work in clay at Northern Clay Center, completing the MN New Institute for Ceramic Education Program in 2023.
Janelle Pochardt is a ceramic artist living in West Fargo, ND. She discovered clay while finishing a degree in art education at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Pochardt hand-builds with white stoneware clay and adds decorative images using underglazes and slips. She is drawn to imagery and colors in children’s books, gardens, and the changing seasons. Pochardt graduated from the Minnesota New Institute for Ceramic Education Program at Northern Clay Center in 2023.
Randy Schütt is a studio artist and art educator, teaching high school ceramics, drawing, and painting in St. Paul, MN. After graduating with a BFA in painting, he began teaching and earned an MA in art education. He has been working with clay since 2005 and has exhibited in national juried shows since 2014. His work explores and combines the commonalities of education, meditation, and ceramics.