SEPTEMBER 21 – NOVEMBER 3
Main Gallery
Virtual Tour available September 26
On view in the fall of 2024, in the main gallery at Northern Clay Center, was an internally-curated exhibition in partnership with community organizations and NCC’s Artist Advisory Committee—Pathways: Collaboration, Community, Clay.
Pathways: Collaboration, Community, Clay brought together artists, community programs, and outreach organizations that have embarked on and demonstrated alternative pathways to establishing, pursuing, and supporting sustainable creative experiences and careers in the ceramic field; pathways that dispel the notion that the most valid path is to solely engage and operate within the academy, revealing opportunities beyond the accepted value of academic degrees with accessible and meaningful creative experiences with clay. Participants in this exhibition activated, and continue to create, viable pathways parallel to the traditional and, more often than not, expensive and increasingly inaccessible route of academia. This invitational exhibition aimed to provide a platform for artists, community programs, and outreach organizations who, with intent, walk and contribute to establishing and validating pathways and inroads to clay outside the support system of academia.
Pathways included artists who have created sustainable and life-long careers in clay from beginnings in community education programs and makers who have chosen residencies to develop further their studio practice, career, and community; makers who embrace the entrepreneurial realm of production, commissions, and retail partnerships; the presence of smaller community-focused studios that serve the needs and interests in the clay of their local communities, with founders sharing and providing creative spaces for local community members; and essential outreach programs that connect diverse communities to ceramic education, activities, and innovating learning experiences with clay.
The exhibition catalog and essay offered an introduction including short interviews with each artist, program, founders, and members of the local studio organizations in the exhibition. The exhibition also served as a starting point for discussions centering the experiences, challenges, and future planning in a symposium-style collaboration of ideas and knowledge with public programming.
Pathways served as a platform to accommodate tours for local schools to explore a gallery installation offering the equivalent of “career day” for clay. To activate community importance and involvement, NCC also served as a site for voter registration on dates throughout the exhibition run.
Participating Artists
Del Bey
Molly Anne Bishop
Linda Christianson
Sayge Carroll, Mudluk Pottery
Mike Norman
Fiorenza Pancino, Esperienza Italia resident artist
Tyler Quintin
NCC Outreach ClayToGo partner, WISE (Women’s Initiative of Self Empowerment)
WISE’s mission is to empower immigrant and refugee women and girls in the journey of self-actualization. They provide culturally responsive education and advocacy to immigrant and refugee women, girls, and those on the feminine gender spectrum through partnerships. NCC began its partnership with WISE in the fall of 2023 and have numerous programs running through fall of 2024.
Work to be exhibited: Self Portrait, Identity
Teaching artist: Heather Schroeder
NCC Outreach ART@HAND partners, Ebenezer Park Apartments and Wilder Square Apartments, CommonBond Communities
Both are long-time NCC partners, serving community residents age 55+.Ebenezer is one of NCC’s first ART@HAND partners since 2009 and in the last 15 years, our programming with them has taken numerous formats. NCC has been partnering with CommonBond at multiple sites since 2018 for both ART@HAND and ClayToGo programs.
Work to be exhibited: Self Portrait, Memory
Teaching artist: Elizabeth Coleman
Related Events
Demonstration: Linda Christianson
Pathways exhibiting artist, and beloved potter, Linda Christianson, led a demonstration of her work in Studio D.
Artist Talk: Del Bey
Pathways artist Del Bey offered an artist talk in NCC’s library.
Panel Discussion
Artists from Pathways participated in a public panel discussion in NCC’s library about their journeys in ceramics.
Voter Registration
In partnership with Minneapolis League of Women Voters, NCC hosted voter registration days in service to our wider community.