As Paul Sacaridiz so deftly explained in his introduction, this conversation, Pass the Peas, Food Objects and the Making of Community, stemmed out of a project NCECA began in 2014 in Milwaukee, the idea of developing a curated roundtable discussion.  The impetus for this came from thinking about the way in which NCECA brings in a keynote, who sets the tone for the conference, sets out a series of ideas that we believe underscore the work and thinking that’s happening at that conference, and perhaps even looking ahead to the following year.  But then often we applaud, ask questions and then send them back into the world.  So our hope with this roundtable is to keep them for a night and to engage them in conversation the next morning by thinking about some of the core of what we believe is being presented in that keynote and the work that that person is doing and to invite an extraordinary diverse group of makers and thinkers to join us in that conversation.
For our 2015 roundtable, we were honored to have Vipoo Srilivasa, Aruna D’Souza, Julia Galloway, and of course, our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Frederick Douglas Opie.  Namita Gupta Wiggers moderated this panel, which also served as a brilliant jumping off point for our NCECA 50th anniversary community engagement project, Across the Table, Across the Land.  Stay tuned to the blog to read more about how artists across the nation are engaging with this project and celebrating the connection between clay and community through food!  In the meantime, enjoy the complete video of this exceptional presentation!