The highly anticipated NCECA Annual “The Evocative Garden,” curated by Gail M. Brown, opens this weekend, kicking off the 2017 NCECA conference “season” with a whirlwind of garden-centric delight and botanical wonder.  The exhibition, held at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, features five artists who were invited by the curator along with 29 artists who were selected from the call for entry.   

Invited artists Megan Bogonovich, Jess Riva Cooper, Kim Dickey, Linda Sormin and Dirk Staschke set the tone for the exhibit which is indeed what the curator intended: “a breadth of implied and articulated dramas… staged as a personally defined natural landscapes or more formalized garden scenarios.”   The exhibit offers variety in approach to the ceramic medium as well as in conceptual interpretation of the theme, and captures the imagination as spring slowly approaches. 

Participating artists include Christopher Adams, JoAnn Axford, Lisa Marie Barber, Chris Berti, Megan Bogonovich, Jess Riva Cooper, Deirdre Daw, Audry Deal-McEver, Jennifer DePaolo, Kim Dickey, Caroline Earley, Carol Gouthro, Karen Gunderman, Dawn Holder, Cj Jilek, Chuck Johnson, Tsehai Johnson, Heather Kaplan, Paul Kotula, Annie Rhodes Lee, Nancy Lovendahl, Andrea Marquis, Lindsay Montgomery, Grace Nickel, Anne Drew Potter, Jessica Putnam-Phillips, Dori Schechtel Zanger, Linda Sormin, Dirk Staschke, Claudia Tarantino, Hirotsune Tashima, Colleen Toledano, Jenni Ward, Stan Welsh.

I’d like to give special thanks to Disjecta for hosting the exhibit, and a big shout-out to our On-Site Liason Brett Binford who orchestrated the installation of the exhibit, beautifully I might add.  Here’s a sneak peek:

 

This not-to-be-missed exhibit is easy to reach via Portland’s Blue line.  Hours during NCECA are Tuesday 10:30am-5:30pm; Wednesday – Saturday 10am-5pm.  Or come to the reception on Thursday, March 23rd from 6-9pm to have the opportunity to meet the curator and the artists.   I’ll see you there. 

Leigh Taylor Mickelson, NCECA Exhibitions Director

 

Want to visit pre- or post-conference? Visit http://www.disjectaarts.org/visit/ for gallery hours.