Genesee Center for the Arts & Education is proud to welcome twenty premier ceramic artists from across the country for a long weekend celebrating the best in contemporary clay. The event includes a special artist reception, pottery exhibitions, demonstrations, workshops and talks by the visiting artists.
This is a unique opportunity for collectors, clay enthusiasts and anyone who appreciates finely-crafted, handmade work to meet and talk with masters of the field and see a large body of their work. Whether you prefer contemporary design or rustic tableware, hundreds of hand-crafted pots will be exhibited, and their makers will be on site to talk about and demonstrate their work. For those of you who are new to contemporary ceramics, this is the perfect opportunity to see the range of work being made with this extremely versatile material.
2015 exhibiting artists are: Mark Shapiro, Dan Finnegan, Jane Shellenbarger, Kristen Kieffer, Jenny Mendes, Forrest Lesch-Middelton, Mary Barringer, Bob Briscoe, Julie Crosby, Peter Beasecker, Ryan Greenheck, John Gill, Doug Peltzman, Liz Quackenbush, Bryan Hopkins, Kenyon Hansen, Matt Metz, Tony Clennell, Carolyn Dilcher-Stutz and Richard Aerni.
Planning for the Flower City Pottery Invitational began in early 2014 when area potters Matt Metz and Richard Aerni discussed bringing fellow esteemed ceramic artists together for a weekend exhibit, following the example of similar shows like the Old Church Pottery Invitational in Demarest, NJ and the popular American Pottery Festival in Minneapolis. Rochester seemed like the perfect city to hold a similar event, being in the middle of a clay mecca, with RIT's School for American Craft and Alfred University close by, as well as strong clay programs in Syracuse and Buffalo. Metz and Aerni have partnered with Genesee Center for the Arts & Education and, together with artist Peter Pincus, have invited colleagues from around the country to participate in the inaugural event.
