Over the past three years, you have may have contributed to NCECA’s rising conference registration numbers or visited the more than 100 exhibitions surrounding the conference expanding awareness of thousands of artists working in clay. Through and beyond each year’s conference, NCECA advances research and creates connections with people to ignite conversations about clay, teaching, and learning.
Through residency opportunities, fellowships, mentorship, and volunteer experiences NCECA connects artists to one another and to the communities and experiences that support their continued growth. From our beginnings at early convenings that drew in around 500 people, primarily university professors, to recent conferences hosting more than 6,000 lovers of clay, NCECA’s community has changed and expanded. We include professional and aspiring potters; museum staff, arts writers and scholars, collectors, and gallery owners; educators and students at every level; community arts centers and cooperative studios with resident and teaching artists; manufacturers, distributors, and publishers; and, now more frequently, family members of these varied constituents. NCECA has evolved as a leader in the ceramic art movement. Since 2015, NCECA has made participation in a first conference more accessible to artists of underrepresented communities through Multicultural Fellowships that support conference registration and membership, as well as costs associated with travel and lodging.
Please consider being an advocate for clay, creation, and connection through a gift to NCECA’s annual campaign by clicking DONATE NOW. Every amount counts towards NCECA’s annual fundraising goal. Even a very modest donation can support a day-pass scholarship for a high school student or educator in the conference region. We know a lot of organizations are competing for your attention this time of year. Dollars we raise as part of our annual campaign directly support NCECA’s operations including programming for youth, and direct support to artists and other conference presenters. We don’t think we could possibly communicate our impact better than 2015 NCECA Multicultural Fellowship recipient Yinka Orafidiya when she shares, “The NCECA conference has given me opportunities to be in the right place at the right time and participate in thoughtful conversations.”
NCECA’s leadership includes dedicated volunteers who advocate for the interests of those working in the field as artists, educators, students, and organizational and business leaders. Ceramic art today is an increasingly diverse platform of creative expression, with deep connections to craft, fine art, and the educational communities that contribute to their sustainability. We seek to acknowledge these contexts with our choice of artists, programs, venues, and community partners. Histories of place and dedication to material and tactile knowledge ground NCECA’s mission and mandate. We invite you to learn more about Yinka’s story here.
In 2019, NCECA returns to Minneapolis, Minnesota for Claytopia, our 53rd annual conference. We hope you will join us to explore and learn from a region that has contributed so significantly to ceramic art’s creative possibilities and influences over the past half century.
