The Foster Art Gallery and Department of English and Visual Arts at Westminster College will host a gallery reception celebrating the fall’s second exhibition, “Expression Through Utility: Exploring Form on the Wheel,” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8.

 The exhibition, which runs from Monday, Sept. 30, to Wednesday, Oct. 30, features the works of three ceramic artists: Ray Brown, Sarah Anderson and Amelia Stamps.

The exhibition is curated by ceramic artist Missy McCormick, whose cultural emphasis is on artists whose work varies in design and approaches the surface of all forms, all while using the wheel as an integral tool to create their work.

“This exhibition showcases three artists who choose utilitarian forms as a starting point for their creative expression,” said McCormick. “Each use the potter’s wheel and similar methods, materials and processes in their practice. But, through their individual approach to clay as a creative material, the results speak volumes of their personalities, interests and goals for how the work communicates. You may be able to identify influences such as nature, architecture, body language, whimsical creatures, breath, thoughts of comfort and feelings of joy in the work.”

Brown, who specializes in utilitarian pottery and design, is currently a ceramic technician and instructor at the University of Mississippi. He received his BFA from the University of Mississippi and his MFA from West Virginia University. His work has been displayed nationally and internationally, including an exhibition at Mufei Gallery in Jingdezhen, China, where he attended a semester-long residency at the Pottery Workshop. In 2019, he received the Studio Potter Merit Award at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts’ (NCECA) National Juried Student Exhibition in Minneapolis.

Specializing in functional pottery, the Indianapolis-based Anderson is a full-time ceramic artist who creates bright, illustrative characters on the surface of clay through the use of “sgraffito,” the Italian word for “scratching.” Her work has been featured across the nation at multiple galleries and studios, winning awards like the Best Teapot for the Strictly Functional Pottery National in Lancaster, Pa. She has been featured in many articles and publishers like Ceramics Monthly and Indianapolis Monthly, as well as featured as a demo artist at the Amaco booth during NCECA 2023. She earned her BFA from Ball State University.

Stamps is an arts educator and nationally recognized studio potter in Lexington, Ky. She exhibits her work in galleries and across the nation and maintains an active retail/wholesale show schedule. Her work has been published in periodicals such as Ceramics Monthly and books such as “Cone 6 Glazes.” She has conducted workshops and residencies across the nation, including Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana and the Appalachian Center for Arts & Crafts in Smithville, Tenn. She earned a BFA from the University of North Carolina.

The gallery reception and exhibition are both free and open to the public. The Foster Art Gallery, located in Patterson Hall on Westminster’s campus, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information, contact Summer Zickefoose, associate professor of art and director of the Foster Art Gallery, at 724-946-7267 or zickefse@westminster.edu.

Works pictured above by artists, from left to right, Ray Brown, Sarah Anderson and Amelia Stamps.

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