September 20 – November 2, 2025
Curated by Pattie Chalmers
Main Gallery
There is a hierarchy of the genres of painting from the most lauded—Historical Paintings, to the lowest in stature—the still-life. This ranking of subject matter originated in the 16th century and remained dominant until the 19th century. The curator’s early admiration for the meaning in objects and an inclination to cheer for the underdog cemented their emotional attachment to this genre of art.
The framing of objects to create expanded meaning has gained even more significance over the years of restricted travel during the covid pandemic; being separated from family and friends, but having objects as reminders of them, confirms the importance of things to act as conduits to memory and emotion.
Whatever the approach artists use to create works in this genre—from traditional oil painting and trompe l’oeil renderings to abstracted arrangements to photography—their compositions reflect the past; talk about class, culture, and identity; and present objects to allow for nuanced meanings, always allowing room for both ambiguity and clarity at once. There is a sense of longing in these works, a request to slow down, to be calm and wonder. Finding meaning in the stillness.
Participating artists include: Grant Benoit, Caro Burks, Guy Michael Davis, Christina Erives, Arthur Fields, Gustav Hamilton, Janice Jakielski, Kristen Morgin, Matt Nolen, Sharon Norwood, Erin Palmer, Katie Parker, Karl Raschke, Dennis Ritter, Amy Santoferraro, Josh Stover, Kari Woolsey, Tammie Rubin
About the Artists
Amy Santoferraro, born in Akron, Ohio, is the progeny of a carpenter and retailer. She received her M.F.A in Ceramic Art from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2012. Amy earned her BAE (Art Education) and her BFA (Ceramics) from The Ohio State University (Columbus). In 2004, Amy was awarded a McKnight Residency Grant for Ceramic Artists in a partnership through the McKnight Foundation and Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Amy was the 2018-2021 Joan and David Lincoln Visiting Professor at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate University and is currently the Lead Ceramics instructor at California State University (Los Angeles).
Arthur Fields earned a BFA in Digital Imaging and Photography at Washington University (St. Louis). His prior studies included printmaking and photography at Brookhaven College (Dallas). Arthur recently completed six years as Associate Professor Art at Vincennes University (IN) where he taught courses in analog photography, digital imaging and design. He also served as the director of VU’s Shircliff Gallery of Art. Arthur is currently Associate Professor of Art at Dallas College (TX) where he teaches courses in photography and design.
Caro Burks uses ceramics and mixed-media sculpture to explore themes of sentimentality, storytelling, and symbolism in decorative culture. Caro received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond) in 2015, held a post-baccalaureate position at the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) from 2015-2017, and received her MFA from Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) in the Spring of 2020. Burks has been awarded residencies at Penland School of Crafts, Anderson Ranch Arts Center and The New Harmony Clay Project. Caro has participated in solo, juried, and two-person exhibitions nationally.
Christina Erives was born in Los Angeles, California. She received her BA and MA from California State University, Northridge and her MFA from Pennsylvania State University (University Park). She has worked as a Resident Artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena Montana, Belger Craneyard Studios in Kansas City Missouri, Arquetopia in Puebla Mexico, and Rasquache in Puebla Mexico. She has also worked as a Visiting Artist Instructor at New Mexico State University (Las Cruces) and the University of Montana (Missoula). Erives is an emerging artist in the field of Ceramics. In 2017 she received an Emerging Artist Award from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.
Dennis Ritter received his BFA from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art (Philadelphia) and his MFA from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. His work has been shown in galleries and museums throughout the United States including MOCA Georgia, The Wassaic Project, and Kennedy Museum of Art. He has been part of residency programs at Watershed Center for the Ceramics Arts, the Vermont Studio Center, and The Clay Studio. A committed educator, Dennis has taught at the Tyler School of Art, Alfred University, and at Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge). Dennis Ritter is currently an Assistant Professor in the Art Program at Berry College (Mount Berry, GA) where he teaches ceramics and sculpture.
Erin L. Palmer is an Associate Professor in Painting and Drawing at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale). She received her MFA from Yale School of Art (New Haven, CT) in 1993. Her work is primarily figurative from direct observation and is included in a number of private collections.
Grant Benoit is an interdisciplinary artist based in St. Louis, Missouri, whose work explores memory through printmaking, sculpture, and craft methods. He combines traditional print media with installation and sculpture to reinterpret the mechanics of memory, focusing on domestic spaces. Benoit earned his MFA in Printmaking from Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) in 2015 and a BA in Studio Arts from Spring Hill College (Mobile, AL) in 2012.
Gustav Hamilton was raised in Fargo, North Dakota and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He received his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and his BFA from the University of Montana (Missoula). He is currently a Studio Manager and Designer at BKLYN CLAY. He has exhibited most recently at Zoe Fisher Projects, The Hole, The Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, and Fisher Parrish Gallery in New York, as well as David B. Smith Gallery in Denver and Ochi Projects in Los Angeles.
Guy Michael Davis and Katie Parker have been collaborating under the name Future Retrieval, mining archives and museums to digitally collect and make objects that re-examine the history of decorative arts. Davis and Parker currently reside in Scottsdale, Arizona where Parker is an Associate Professor in the School of Art at Arizona State University (Tempe). Their most recent solo exhibitions include Crystal-Walled Seas at Denny Gallery in 2022 and Close Parallel at the Cincinnati Art Museum in 2021. Future Retrieval’s work is held in numerous collections such as Arizona State University Ceramics Research Center (AZ), Cincinnati Art Museum (OH), 21C Museum/Hotel (NC), Society of Dresden Porcelain Art (Germany), and Jingdezhen International Studio (China). Davis and Parker both received their MFA from The Ohio State University (Columbus) and BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute (Kansas City).
Janice Jakielski received her MFA in Ceramics from the University of Colorado (Boulder) and a BFA from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Solo exhibitions include; Duane Reed Gallery, MO, Cross MacKenzie Gallery, Washington DC, Eutectic Gallery, OR, Jane Hartsook Gallery, NY and the Canton Museum of Art, Ohio. Jakielski lives and works in Parker, Colorado.
Josh Stover is an artist and sign painter based in Richmond, Virginia. Josh Grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida and completed his BFA at the University of Florida (Gainesville) with an emphasis on ceramics. He draws a lot of inspiration from his home environment where he collects antique and vintage objects that often appear in his work.
Kari Woolsey’s ceramic work focuses on the everydayness of objects and vessels around us through making functional pottery, as well as larger installations. She received a BFA in Ceramics from Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton) in 2011 and a MFA in Ceramics from Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) in 2018. Currently, Kari resides in Carbondale, IL. She teaches ceramics classes as an Assistant Professor of Practice at SIUC.
Karl Raschke is a Minneapolis-based artist who received an MFA from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) in 1999. He was awarded a McKnight Artist Fellowship in 2010. Raschke’s work has been exhibited at Minnesota Center for Photography, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Minnesota Museum of American Art and many other venues.
Kristen Morgin is an American artist. Morgin’s practice incorporates ceramics, sculpture, painting, drawing, and collage. Her unfired clay sculptures are well known. Morgin received a BA in art at California State University (Hayward) and an MFA in Ceramics from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Her work has been shown widely in the United States and abroad. Her work is in the permanent collections of The Hammer Museum, San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Art, The Smithsonian American Museum of Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Matt Nolen is a studio artist living and working in New York City and Narrowsburg, NY. Nolen’s work includes sculptural objects and architectural installations using clay and mixed media. His work has been exhibited internationally and is in numerous private and public collections including: The Cooper-Hewitt Museum, The Museum of Arts and Design, The Newark Museum, The Houston Museum of Fine Art, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The de Young Museum, and The Everson Museum of Art.
Sharon Norwood is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans ceramics, drawing, video, and installation. Rooted in conceptual research, her practice explores issues of race, gender, labor, and class, often using found objects and historical materials to spark critical dialogue. Born in Jamaica and raised in Canada, Norwood holds an MFA from Florida State University (Tallahassee) and a BFA from the University of South Florida (Tampa). Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in both public and private collections, including the Telfair Museums. She currently lives and works in Savannah, Georgia.
Tammie Rubin is a ceramic sculptor and installation artist. Rubin’s work is a meticulous exploration of the inherent power of objects as signifiers, wishful contraptions, and mythic relics. Her unique approach weaves together familial and historical narratives of Black American citizenry, migration, coded symbols, and faith. She holds an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Washington (Seattle) and a dual BFA in Ceramics and Art History from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Curator Bio:
Pattie Chalmers grew up and went to art school in Winnipeg, Canada. She received her BFA in printmaking from the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg), and her MFA in ceramics from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). Chalmers has exhibited in group exhibitions on five continents, in six countries and in thirty-four states and has had seven solo exhibitions in the past five years, most recently at Silverwood Park Gallery in St. Anthony, MN, and The Mudmaid Museum at the Sheldon Art Center in St. Louis, MO.