Newsletter

Newsletter

Read our latest newsletter

ClayToGo Partner Spotlight: Northrup Elementary

January kicked off numerous after-school programs with Twin Cities elementary and middle schools. At the time of the drafting of this newsletter text, NCC had deployed nine teaching artists to lead 15 weekly, afternoon…

Sustaining Collaborations with Our Community

Creating experiential and lifelong learning opportunities is a goal of Northern Clay Center’s outreach program. While not always possible given the constraints of funding and the competing demands on our partner staff and teaching…

MN NICE: Year Nine

In November, we celebrated our eighth graduating class of Minnesota New Institute for Ceramic Education (MN NICE). The program is currently in its ninth year with another group of dedicated students. This exciting cohort…

Calling All Teaching Artists!

We are looking for so many new faces to join our teaching roster in 2023! We have positions available in two of our programs—ClayToGo and Summer Clay Camps. Teach with NCC’s ClayToGo program Northern…

Coming this Spring in the Sales Gallery!

Visit us in the Sales Gallery this spring for a sneak peek viewing of the work by our emerging artist residency grant recipients! During the months of April and May, we’ll represent the work…

NCECA 2023

NCC’s sales gallery, exhibition, and artist services programs will participate in Current, the 57th annual conference held in Cincinnati, OH by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). The conference will…

Preview 2023 Clay Camps

Registration for 2023 Clay Camps opens January 31 at 10 am!

Partnership Spotlight: Southeastern Libraries Cooperating

This summer, NCC teaching artists were all over the southeastern corner of Minnesota, providing clay workshops to youth and aging adults through Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO). From Blooming Prairie to Le Crescent, Albert Lea…

2022 24th Annual American Pottery Festival Review

The American Pottery Festival weekend always, always, gives us new reasons to appreciate the artists and all of you who support them during the weekend, and this year was no different. Far from a…

You’ve Got Friends in Clay Places

Thank you for being a valuable part of Northern Clay Center and all that you have contributed to advance the growth and development of the organization. Your presence in, and support of, the community…

Director’s Report

As we near the end of another calendar year, we are provided with the opportunity to pause and reflect on both successes and areas for growth from the past year. I am excited for…

ClayToGo Spotlight: Cityview Community School

A new outreach partnership with Cityview Community School in Minneapolis began in early May 2022 and continued through early June 2022. Teaching artists Persis Wade, Elizabeth Coleman, and Jennica Kruse provided weekly classes for…

Announcing the 2022 Emerging Artist Award Recipients

Each year, early-career ceramic artists apply for Emerging Artist Awards at Northern Clay Center with a drive to continue the momentum they have gained through formal and informal education and experiences. Each of them…

Partner Spotlight: People Serving People

A new outreach partnership with People Serving People began in September 2021 and continues through the spring of 2022. This partnership was born out of a short interaction between two community members in a…

NCECA 2022 Wrap Up

We offer our collective thanks to all of you who engaged with NCC to view lectures or purchase pots for Fertile Ground, the 56th annual conference held in Sacramento, CA by the National Council…

Spring 2022 Program Updates

Administration NCC’s new health care plan went into effect for staff members who elected to participate. NCC has not had a group health care offering in recent memory. We hope the plan will provide…

ClayToGo Checking in to 2022

The fall of 2021 brought about a marked return of NCC’s outreach programming in the community! We were not quite back to full force, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect the reality of…

MN NICE: Year Eight

Program Info SessionJoin us for a MN NICE program information session via Zoom, where we will discuss the program’s many components before opening the floor to questions. Virtual, Thursday, April 21, 6 pm CT,…

Winter 2022 Program Updates

StaffPlease welcome staff members who joined us in autumn of 2021: Building Maintenance Technician, Iris Smith, began on 09.27.2021Gallery Artist Liaison, Victor Sánchez, began on 10.14.21Sales Gallery Manager, Rachel Nusbaum, began on 10.18.21Sales Gallery…

Preview 2022 Clay Camps

Registration for 2022 Clay Camps opens February 1 at 10 am!

Director’s Report

As we enter then final months of 2021, we are provided the opportunity to pause and reflect upon the myriad challenges, successes, and milestones of the year. Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, our…

Try a Clay Class from Home!

Interested in a virtual clay activity but don’t know where to start? Let us show you how simple it is to participate in an online ceramics class at home! First, sign up online. NCC…

2021 23rd Annual American Pottery Festival Review

This year’s American Pottery Festival (APF) left all of us here loving the clay community as we reflected on the accomplishments of everyone who helped us make the Center’s second virtual version of our…

Fall McKnight Artist Residency for Ceramic Artists: Tom Hubbard

Join Northern Clay Center in welcoming our 2021 fall McKnight Artist Resident, Tom Hubbard (Attleboro, MA). We look forward to supporting his creative visions while establishing new connections with our community. During the first…

Peter Leach Scholarship Fund

We are thrilled to announce the Peter Leach Scholarship Fund at Northern Clay Center. The Peter Leach Scholarship Fund will be used to fund the NCC BIPOC education scholarship which covers 100% of class…

Announcing the 2021 Emerging Artist Award Recipients

Each year, numerous courageous souls step up and apply for NCC’s Emerging Artist Awards, in hopes of capitalizing on the momentum they have gained in school, apprenticeships, community classes, or their individual studios. Every…

New Adult Scholarships!

NCC is committed to maintaining accountability and pursuing action to build meaningful diversity, impactful equity, and genuine inclusivity in the ceramic community. We recognize that there are significant and systemic racial and economic impacts…

Welcome Marian Draper, NCC’s 2021 Dona Turbes Intern

Hello! My name is Marian Draper. I will be a senior this fall at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York where I am currently working towards a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with…

Partner Spotlight: Ebenezer Ridges

While many of our partner organizations have not been able to resume programming due to the various constraints on senior living facilities caused by the pandemic, Northern Clay Center has been running programming with…

NCC @ Virtual NCECA 2021

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…

A Tribute to Peter Leach

In late winter, the clay community lost an influential and esteemed member. Peter Leach passed away on January 17, 2021 at the age of 87 and left a legacy in ceramics that deserves our…

Director’s Report

Over the course of the last fourteen months, Northern Clay Center has implemented a number of changes through transition, programmatic evolution, introspective evaluation, and the redevelopment of connections with all of its constituents. Guided…

Action and Accountability at NCC

As an organization, and as individuals, we are listening and learning with intent and relentlessly evolving our mission to ensure meaningful diversity, impactful equity, and genuine inclusivity. We don’t often broadcast the work that…