Clay Times Back Issues Vol. 2 Issue 7 • Nov/Dec 1996 | Page 20

“Utilitarian Clay II: Celebrate the Object”
A Symposium on Form & Function
in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee

M

ore than 200 clay artists
from 30 states, Canada, and Chile
recently converged on picturesque
Gatlinburg, Tennessee to exchange
ideas and techniques (and their
own handmade cups) during the
second national conference on
functional ceramics at Arrowmont
School of Arts and Crafts.

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Sixteen nationally recognized
clay experts including Val Cushing,
Linda Arbuckle, Pete Pinnell,
Michael Simon, Jeff Oestreich,
Mark Hewitt, Linda Christianson,
George Bowes, Silvie Granatelli,
William Brouillard, Mary Barringer,
Diane Rosenmiller, Ellen Shankin,
Frank Fabens, and Gloria Kosco led
the three-day event with daily
workshops devoted to their specific
areas of expertise. These in-depth
sessions featured topics ranging
from the creation of specific forms

BY POLLY BEACH
like cups, teapots, pitchers and bottles to glazing, production throwing, tile making and installation,
throwing large forms, altering pots,
press molding, slip mold making,
handbuilding, forms for use with
food, surface decoration, and many
other fascinating subjects.
Each day’s program was divided into morning and afternoon sessions which featured a selection of
approximately six workshops held
simultaneously. Participants were
encouraged to move freely between
workshops to absorb as much
information as possible—a welcome gesture, as the inviting selection of workshops made it tough to
decide which ones to attend.
Two on-site exhibitions ran
concurrently with the conference.
One was the presenter’s exhibition

(pictured above), featuring functional pieces by conference presenters. The other exhibition featured
utilitarian works by emerging
artists, selected by the presenters.
Slide shows and panel discussions on topics such as “User
Friendly Pots” and “Sustaining
Interest in the Studio” rounded out
the program at the end of each day.
An informal Saturday evening
bluegrass dance/cookout at the
Great Smoky Mountains National
Park served as the grand finale to
this highly successful event.
Works from both exhibitions
and highlights from individual
workshop presentations are shown
on pages 21-23. (Additional functional works and techniques from
this conference will also appear in
our next issue of Clay Times.)