EAST BAY OPEN STUDIOS: May 13+14, May 20+21, 11 am – 5 pm
East Bay Open Studios is almost here! Over 185 artists across the East Bay will open their studios to the public so you can discover art where it happens.
EBOS is an opportunity to connect to the fabulous artists who live in your cities and neighborhoods. Meet artists, see or purchase their artwork, and build community. The event is free and family-friendly.
EBOS is self-guided and you can visit as many studios as you want. You can use the map on our website to locate studios or download Vibemap to participate in a Treasure Hunt and win prizes. If you need help getting oriented, start at one of our Community Hubs or RSVP to our Opening Celebration and Exhibition at Uptown Station on Friday, May 12. We can’t wait to see you there!
East Bay Open Studios https://eastbayopenstudios.com @eastbayopenartstudios
East Bay Open Studios is a program of Oakland Art Murmur www.oaklandartmurmur.org
North Auburn Artists’ Studio Tour
The much-anticipated 25 th Anniversary North Auburn Artists’ Studio Tour will
be held Mother’s Day weekend, May 13 th &14 th . Twenty-one well-known North
Auburn artists will be showing their art at 14 different studios. The FREE tour
is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM.
There are sculptors, ceramic artists, painters, photographers, glass artisans,
wood workers, jewelry, textile and fiber artists on the tour. This is an
opportunity to watch the artists working in their studios and ask questions
about the medium they create in. This is an event that will interest and please
the whole family. You may also purchase and take-home original works of art,
cards or prints from the studios. An online tour guide is available at the
website www.northauburnartists.com
OFF CENTER 2023: An International Ceramic Art Competition
April marks the return of Off Center, Blue Line Arts’ annual Ceramic Art Competition, which draws top talent in contemporary ceramics from around the country and abroad. The exhibition will host work from 41 different artists working in a variety of styles, from functional studio pottery to imaginative installations.
Writer, curator, artist, educator, and self-described craft activist Garth Johnson served as this year’s juror. Here is a special note from the juror:
“As someone who is surrounded by the greatest works in the history of studio pottery at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, I’m astounded by the energy that is driving the field today. Community studios are having a hard time meeting the demands of a public that is increasingly turning to ceramics for solace and to transform their environments. The resulting show, Off Center, is truly that. It’s full of work that makes me curious and excited about what is to come.”
–Garth Johnson, Paul Phillips and Sharon Sullivan Curator of Ceramics at the Everson Museum of Art
Congratulations to the ACGA members who juried into OFF CENTER 2023!
Mary Catherine Bassett: www.marycatherinebassett.com @mcrathergather
Michele Collier: www.burningclay.blogspot.com @burningclay
Mari Emori: www.berkeleypotters.com @emoriceramics
Vince Montague: www.vincemontague.com @vincemontague
Jan Schachter: www.janschachter.com @janschachter
Exhibition Dates: April 8 – May 20, 2023
Alongside Off Center, you can also catch solo exhibitions in different mediums for Nina Temple, Robert Obier, and Brooke Aruffo.
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 15, 4–7 pm
Stop by to enjoy a live demo at 4 pm, with a reception to follow. Juried prize winners will be announced at 6 pm.
Blue Line Arts: 405 Vernon St #100, Roseville, CA 95678
Open Tuesday through Saturday from 11–5 pm or by appointment.
Blue Line Arts is a regional cultural hub committed to fostering impactful arts experiences. Through exhibitions, educational programming, and public arts initiatives, we support a full creative life for all.
For more information, please visit www.BlueLineArts.org @bluelinearts
–Brooke Abrames, Blue Line Arts Co-Director
Brooke@bluelinearts.org
Visions In Clay Call for Entries
Entry is open now through June 26, 2023
Exhibition Juror: Joan Takayama-Ogawa, Professor of Ceramics and Product Design, Otis College of Art & Design, Los Angeles, California
Gallery & Online Exhibition: August 28 – September 21, 2023
Gallery Reception: August 31, 5:00-7:00p.m.
Gallery Awards $800 | $600 | $400
San Joaquin Potters Guild Founders Award ~ $300
Regional Artist Award $800
Entry Fees: $30 for 3 entries / $45 up to 6 entries
For the complete Prospectus Guidelines and to enter go to:
gallery.deltacollege.edu – Call for entries
ACGA Board Meeting Minutes – March 13, 2023
Present: Mari Emori, April Zilber, Sally Jackson (recorder), Ren Lee, Emil Yanos, Vicki Gunter, Cheryl Costantini, Chris Johnson, Susie Rubenstein, Iver Hennig, Joe Battiato, Trudy Chiddix, Barbara Prodaniuk (Absent: Sonja Hinrichsen, Lee Middleman, Jan Schachter)
Guest: Julie Taber
The meeting commenced at 5:30 p.m.
Welcome (Mari)
Treasurer’s Report (April)
April introduced ACGA member Julie Taber, who will be taking over the position of Treasurer. Julie is a ceramic artist in Altadena, CA, and she has extensive experience as a bookkeeper for nonprofits. Thank you, Julie, and welcome!
Our total assets as of February 28th are $117,651. This has been boosted lately by booth fees received for the festival in July. Our 2022 tax information has been submitted to our CPA. We discussed the possibility of giving our members the option to pay a little extra when using PayPal to cover its processing fees.
Festival Report (April)
April reported that 98 artists have signed up for the 2023 Palo Alto Clay & Glass Festival in July. We discussed how to staff Clay-for-All in the courtyard, and how to ensure that the courtyard is properly cleaned up afterwards. We discussed having demos outside this year to attract more attention. We also discussed how to recognize new festival artists, how to select Best-in-Show artists, and how best to collect and enter contact information for those who sign up on our mailing list. The auditorium will be available possibly as a cool place for visitors to sit and eat. Messenger Events will try to address problems we had last year with unsecured fire extinguishers and rutted spots on the grounds.
Membership (Emil)
ACGA’s website feature “Artist of the Month” has thus far been populated by a small pool of members who have volunteered for the honor. When this feature was introduced, we expected more members to embrace the opportunity, but response has been sparse, leaving us with fewer choices. Some on the Board believe that only festival-eligible artists should be featured as Artist of the Month, whereas other Board members who actively exhibit, but do not plan to jury into the festival, would like the Artist of the Month to be chosen from a broader pool. We will continue discussions to resolve this issue in a future meeting.
“Meet-Your-Board-Member” in the Newsletter (Mari)
Mari has prepared a monthly calendar assigning each board member to provide a profile for the newsletter. This slot will be titled “Meet Your Board Member”. The profiles will be due on the 8th of each month.
Encouraging More Sign-ups for the Festival (Mari)
We discussed ways to regain some of the artists who were accepted in 2019 and 2020 for one-time-only festival eligibility. Some have since juried in as fully eligible, but others have not reapplied. It was proposed that the Board admit all of those one-time-only artists as fully eligible. Chris, Ren, and April will look into the artists’ original applications and festival participation for assessment.
Communications (Susie)
The Communications Committee is working to make our website more engaging and more financially viable. The Treasurer reminded the Board that it had budgeted $300 per month as a stipend for communications work. The Board approved initiating this monthly stipend for Ren, retroactive to January 2023. Ren will send invoices to April. Ren informed the board that it should allocate money to pay writers to write articles for the newsletter. She also requested that members submit more information for the calendar.
Managing Access (Mari)
Cheryl and Mari will talk about how to transfer Zoom meeting management to one person on the board. Sally will step up for this role. Later discussions should address access to all other ACGA accounts with logins.
Exhibitions (Sally & Vicki)
The Exhibitions Committee recently visited the gallery Curated by the Sea in Santa Cruz, and met with the owner, Melissa Kreisa. We will have a juried exhibition there in 2024, probably in the spring. This will be a clay and glass show open to ACGA members and to clay and glass artists residing in Santa Cruz County. Opening it to local artists is a good way to spread the word about ACGA. Those who visited included Jan Schachter, Sally Jackson, Chris Johnson, and Randi Silverstein (who was also the original contact). Iver Hennig has also been in consultation and has visited the gallery on his own.
Vicki Gunter reported that Arts Benicia is a promising space for an exhibition in Benicia. She is pursuing this opportunity with a letter of inquiry and will know more after March 22. In addition, a new gallery in Benicia called NY2CA may also provide a chance for ACGA artists to show their work.
The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
Next Meeting: 5:30 p.m., April 10, 2023 via Zoom
All Members are Welcome
Meet Your Board Members: Emil Yanos
I came into ceramics almost by accident. Due to the recession in the early 90’s I was without a job and looking for an activity to fill my days. I found Ruby’s Clay Studio on one of my neighborhood walks. I signed up for a class and was hooked. I took several more classes and began to experiment, working part-time, after work and on the weekends, mostly throwing and making functional work.
I went into hand building after years of throwing because I developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from my day job. With a new aesthetic and a new set of skills, my work eventually emerged into what is more intrinsically me, which is mostly rough with a few smooth edges. On my second try, I was finally juried into the ACGA Clay and Glass Festival.
Being part of ACGA raised my awareness to the possibilities of clay and glass. I joined ACGA because I wanted another venue show my art. I found that without ACGA, that venue and the opportunities that come with it wouldn’t be there, so I volunteered to help this organization provide what I was looking for. I started as the Membership Coordinator and continue that role as a board member.
I still work out of Ruby’s Clay Studio, creating textured sculpture that is mainly hand built but sometimes thrown and have fully recovered from CTS. I no longer have a day job, I have an activity to fill my days and some of my nights.