One of the concurrent independent exhibitions you will not want to miss is Taming Nature; a group exhibition organized by Paul Donnely that will be presented in the Pritzlaff building.  In assembling the exhibition, twenty-nine artists were asked to approach the task of making objects either used for, or inspired by, the art of flower arrangement.

The show will include works by Albion Stafford, Shawn Spangler, Rebecca Chappell, Paul Donnelly, Kari Radasch, Brad Johnson, Kathryn Finnerty, Daniel Teran, Meredith Host, Naomi Cleary, Ryan Fletcher, Margaret Bohls, Chris Pickett, Sean O’Connell, Shoko Teruyama, A. Blair Clemo, Matthew Jorgenson, Bryan Hopkins, Brian J. Taylor, Kyla Toomey, Ryan Takaba, Emily Schroeder Willis, Amy Santoferraro, Katie Parker, Mike Davis, Tyler Lotz and Rain Harris.

“The title of the exhibition describes or depicts how we physically tame nature by arranging plants and flowers for decorative or ritualistic purposes. In a more literal way it represents how ceramic artist control nature, specifically clay as a material, to produce tangible objects that we use to surround ourselves in our lives.” 

“In both historical and contemporary ceramics we see this subject widely explored as content in a variety of different ways: through function, narratives or as direct subject matter within the form of the piece. No matter how this theme is integrated into our practice one thing most ceramicists have in common is that they produce material objects that have permanence and is a record of their place and time.”

-Paul Donnely

Donnely is an Assistant Professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, and a noted studio potter whose work navigates between architecture, nature and popular culture to reveal notions of history and fashion and their place in the domestic landscape.

This is going to be an exceptionally beautiful and thoughtful show.

Definitely one you will not want to miss.