Previous Winners | The Clay and Glass

Previous Winners

2010 Award announcement
2009 Award announcement
2008 Award announcement
2007 – Rory Macdonald
2006 – Ying-Yueh Chuang
2005 – Kate Hyde
2004 – Joan Bruneau
2003 – Marc Vincent Egan
2002 – Laurent Craste
2001 – Susan Collett

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2010 Award announcement

The Clay & Glass Gallery is pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics and the RBC Award for Glass. These awards mark a significant moment in an artist’s career by supporting the recipients in their research and career aspirations. The awards also recognize the remarkable practices and achievements in contemporary ceramic and glass art in Canada.

Brendan Tang Shantz Award Winner 2010
Rachael Wong RBC Glass Award Winner 2010
Award ceremony photographs

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2009 Award announcement

September 17, 2009
Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics awarded to
Jasna Sokolovic (Vancouver, BC)

RBC Award For Glass awarded to
Cali Balles (Toronto, ON)

Cali Balles and Jasna Sokolovic

Ms. Sokolovic uses clay not just to make objects but as a way for developing structures for drawing and painted images. Using images and text she presents thoughts on relationships. Images of two chairs, two birds, titles like “Waiting for You”, “With or With Out You,” show stories of life. There is an element of installation in how she uses the wall and floor and engages the viewer with alternative image sources to tell a story. Her work is an excellent example of contemporary art whose style fit perfectly well to the project she intents to undertake which includes one residency and two researches in Mexico.

“My work has been highly influenced by Mexican traditional art in my choice of colours and imagery, as well as in the way I use them to depict every day stories on ceramic works.” Jasna Sokolivic

Cali Balles work is very intimate in scale but reaches great depth in its discourse on environmental issues. Simple and elegant, yet powerful in the way they focus the attention of the viewer, her work shows her interest in the way patterns of the city interact with current and historical elements of the landscape. The project will examine relationships between nature and the urban environment.

“I have become curious about how the patterns of city structures have developed over time to create the urban environment. This was partly driven by my learning of the buried neighborhoods and hidden rivers that exists beneath Toronto’s streets; one such river runs beneath my home.” Cali Balles

RBC Award For Glass: Artists short-listed for 2009 are
Cali Balles (Toronto, ON) and Catherine Vamvakas Lay (Toronto, ON)

Awards to be announced September 17, 2009

Artists Short Listed for Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics and the RBC Award for Glass.

Waterloo, Ontario – August 13, 2009 – The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery is pleased to announce this year’s short list for the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics and the RBC Awards for Glass. The two candidates for the Winifred Shantz Award are Ian Johnston from Nelson, British Columbia and Jasna Sokolovic from Vancouver, British Columbia. The RBC Glass Award short list features Cali Balles and Catherine Vamvakas Lay. Both are from Toronto, Ontario.

The 9th Annual Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics and the 2nd annual RBC Award for Glass mark significant milestones in a recipient’s career. They recognize the remarkable practices that make up contemporary ceramic and glass art in Canada. These prestigious awards support recipients in their research and career aspirations. The Winifred Shantz Award provides $10,000 and the RBC Award provides $7,000 toward professional development. These awards recognize significant artistic achievements and are an investment in the future, designed to allow the recipient time away from the studio, to travel for career development, link with mentors, visit other studios, study museum collections, or liaise with industry, performing research that will further their studio production. It may also be used for international residencies or symposia. While recognizing that not all ceramists and glass artists arise from an academic background, this award is intended to assist at a post-graduate level of accomplishment.

Selected artists, curatorial and academic experts in the silica arts comprised the juries for these prestigious awards. The winners will be announced Sept 17, 2009.

About Winifred Shantz:
Winifred Shantz has been a driving force for the arts in the Waterloo Region for more than 40 years. A successful ceramist and entrepreneur, she knows the importance of learning the business side of being an artist.

Mrs. Shantz has made a significant impact in the local community through her involvement in the University of Waterloo’s Chancellor’s Circle, as a charter member of the Laurel Society and as a founding member of the highly successful Waterloo Potters Workshop. Mrs. Shantz has also been a vigorous supporter of the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery for the past 15 years. In addition, as partner of the Harbinger Gallery in Waterloo, which exhibits and sells a variety of fine arts work in clay, glass, textile, wood, and metal ware from across Canada, she has helped both young and established artists gain a wider audience for their work. In 2001, she received the Kitchener-Waterloo Arts Lifetime Achievement Award.

About RBC Financial Group:
RBC believes it is important to give back to the community – and that a thriving, innovative art scene is key to the vibrancy and health of our society and culture. That’s why RBC nurtures and invests in Canadian creative talent: a vital natural resource.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSX, NYSE: RY) uses the initials RBC as a prefix for its businesses and operating subsidiaries, which operate under the master brand name of RBC Financial Group. Royal Bank of Canada is Canada’s largest financial institution as measured by market capitalization and assets, and is one of North America’s leading diversified financial services company. It provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking, and transaction processing services on a global basis. The company employs approximately 70,000 full and part-time employees who serve more than 14 million personal, business and public sector clients through offices in North America and some 30 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.rbc.com.
The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery has reached a significant milestone as it celebrated its 15th Anniversary on June 19, 2008. Our award winning architecture, outstanding exhibitions and programs have placed CCGG at the forefront of contemporary art experience. To extend our celebration through the year we are offering new admission rates – June 2008 to June 2009.

ADMISSION: Adult $5, Student/Senior $3, Member Free, Tuesday to Friday 5-6pm Free and Sunday 1-5pm Free.
GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday to Friday 11-6pm, Saturday 10-5pm; Sunday 1-5pm, Monday closed.

The CCGG acknowledges the generous support provided by members, sponsors, donors, and volunteers, the City of Waterloo, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Media Contact:
519.746.1882 ext. 234, promotions@canadianclayandglass.ca

2008 Award announcement

Waterloo, Ontario – September 26, 2008 – In celebration of Canadian Ceramic and Glass Artists, the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics and the RBC Award for Glass support recipients in their research and career aspirations in the fields of contemporary ceramics and glass.

The 8th Annual Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics and the first of its kind RBC Award for Glass mark a significant moment in recognizing the remarkable practices that make up contemporary ceramic and glass art in Canada.

The Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics has been made possible for the past eight years thanks to the generosity and commitment of Mrs. Shantz to recognize and contribute to the career of ceramic artists in this country. This Award is one of its kind and has become a prestigious award supports the recipients in their research and career aspirations in the fields of contemporary ceramics.

The Winifred Shantz for Ceramics annual award presents $10,000 to Kasia Piech to conduct research and travel to Spain to study the paintings of Hieronymus Bosh in the Museo del Prado, and participate in a residency in Italy to explore concepts of faith and religion. This research expands on her most recent work entitled “The Garden of Earthly Delights”.

The new partnership with the RBC added a new level of excitement to the Award night and has provided the opportunity to recognize an exceptional artist working in glass.

The RBC Award for Glass presents $5,000 to Julia Reimer to travel to Japan and research the influence of Japanese design and culture on modern western craft. In particular she will examine the influence of the Mingei Movement on vessel design and the role of nature as inspiration for Japanese craft design. She will be conducting her research at the Japan Traditional Craft Center and The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, as well as working directly wit mentor, glass artist Masahiro Sasaki.

Adjudicating this year’s submissions for the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics were Rosemary Aicher, a potter from Waterloo, Jim Thomson, an Ottawa artist creating in clay since 1973, and Reed Weir, a ceramist from Newfoundland. The RBC Award for Glass was juried by Lou Lynn, a British Columbia sculptor working in glass and metal, Bruno Andrus, a Montreal-based glassblower artist, and John Kepkiewzc, glass artist from Thorn Glass Studio, St. Jacobs, Ontario.

Winners were announced at an Award Gala on September 25, 2008. A highlight of the Award Gala was a talk by the notable international Glass/Ceramic artist Peter Layton.

About the winners:

Kasia Piech:

Kasia Piech is a ceramic, mixed media artist. Piech completed her first degree in Religious studies at the University of Windsor in 1992. She obtained a BFA Ceramic Sculpture in 2001 from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC and an MFA, 2003 from the University of Waterloo. In recent work, she utilizes runny glazes that make her sculptural figures look like they are rotting or melting. Piech makes her glazes out of canned food, often goods well past their expiration date. One of the themes she is pursuing is the idea of the world turned upside down.

Julia Reimer:

Julia Reimer studied glass blowing at the Alberta College of Art + Design, and enhanced her knowledge of design and traditional European glass making techniques through travels to Scotland, Spain, France and Hungary. Her original design and meticulous craftsmanship have been recognized through several awards, including the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2002 she was chosen as an Artist in Residence at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York state. Her work is carried in several Canadian and U. S. galleries and has been exhibited in Europe. Reimer’s designs are inspired by the landscape that surrounded her childhood home in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta. “That’s where I acquired an appreciation for the crisp prairie light, and the undulating hills and grasslands carved by wind and water that influence my artistic vision”, she says, adding, “My love of the stark montane landscape has led to an aesthetic based on beautiful simplicity of form and light.”

About Winifred Shantz:

Winifred Shantz has been a driving force for the arts in the Waterloo Region for more than 40 years. A successful ceramist and entrepreneur, she knows the importance of learning the business side of being an artist.

About RBC Financial Group:

RBC believes it is important to give back to the community – and that a thriving, innovative art scene is key to the vibrancy and health of our society and culture. That’s why RBC nurtures and invests in Canadian creative talent: a vital natural resource.

Artist, Kasia Piech
(Waterloo/Hamilton, ON) wins the
2008 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics

Artist, Julia Reimer (Black Diamond, AB)
is the first recipient ever to win the
RBC Award for Glass.

Winifred Shantz and Kasia Piech

Julia Reimer, Michelle Waite from RBC
and Robert Achtemichuk

Wheels by Kasia Piech

Growthings by Julia Reimer

Peter Layton, international glass artist from London, England gave an inspiring presentation at the Award reception about glass and ceramic art in Europe and North America.

2007 – Rory Macdonald

Winifred Shantz Award 2007 goes to Rory MacDonald

Date: Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 7:30pm

Location: Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St N, Waterloo, ON

Regina artist Rory MacDonald wins the 2007 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists

WATERLOO, ON September 20, 2007:

The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, through support from local patron Winifred Shantz, has named Regina based artist Rory MacDonald winner of this year’s Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists. MacDonald was awarded a $10,000 prize on Thursday night at a gala event.

The annual award presents $10,000 for innovative professional development to an emerging potter or clay sculptor, allowing the recipient time for travel, to attend international residencies or to conduct research that will enrich experience and fortify career aspirations in the field of contemporary ceramics.

Adjudicating this year’s submissions were Marlen Moggach, a potter from Waterloo, Ontario, Mariko Paterson, an artist from Calgary, AB and Steve Smith, a Six Nations artist who is recognized as one of Canada’s most distinguished ceramic artists. Applications for the award were received from across Canada.

Rory MacDonald is an Assistant Professor of Ceramics at the University of Regina. He holds an MFA from Alfred University in New York, and a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Planning to use the award to travel in Canada and Southern France and Northern Italy, MacDonald will create multiple public art interventions and a database and curatorial proposal concentrating on Canadian emerging ceramics. The artist notes that; “the ability to apply this award directly to travel will provide new opportunities to explore the possibilities of mobility in the ceramics process.” The award was presented to MacDonald amongst an audience of visual art and craft professionals and supporters.

Another highlight of the evening was the keynote address by Peter Powning, recipient of the 2006 Saidye Bronfman Award, Canada’s foremost distinction for excellence in craft. He has lived and worked as an artist in the hills of southern New Brunswick since 1970.

Contact Jake Nicholson, marketing assistant for further information in regard to this or other events at the gallery by phone: 1.519.746.1882 x234 or by e-mail: lauren@canadianclayandglass.ca

Rory MacDonald

Keynote Speaker Peter Powning

2006 – Ying-Yueh Chuang

Winifred Shantz Award 2006 goes to Ying-Yueh Chuang

Date: Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 8:00pm

Location: Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St N, Waterloo, ON

The highly anticipated Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists was awarded at a gala, invitation-only event tonight at The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery to Ying-Yueh Chuang of Toronto. The annual award – funded by the well-known arts philanthropist and craft enthusiast from Kitchener, Ontario – presents $10,000 for innovative professional development to an emerging potter or clay sculptor, allowing the recipient time for travel, to attend international residencies or to conduct research that will enrich experience and fortify career aspirations in the field of contemporary ceramics.

Plant- Creature 2006 (Right)

Adjudicating this year’s submissions were Stephen Hawes, a potter from Waterloo, ON, Laurie Rolland, a potter from Sechelt, BC and Jack Sures, of Regina, SK, who is recognized as one of Canada’s most distinguished ceramic artists. Applications for the award were received from across Canada.

Ying-Yueh Chuang holds an MFA in Ceramics from NSCAD University, and a BFA in visual arts from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. She has received many grants and awards, and participates in exhibitions internationally. Eleanor Heartney wrote in the June 2004 issue of Art in America that the artist’s “brightly coloured sculptures have the look of deep-sea creatures crossed with exotic vegetables…but despite resemblances to sea anemones and coral, the sculptures are sufficiently mutant to bring to mind the familiar cinematic nightmare of nature gone bad. Meanwhile, the pastel palette conjures elaborate bakery confections. As a result, the metamorphic forms have a simultaneously repellent and enticing effect.”

Ms. Chuang will be using her award to further develop her practice as an artist in residence at the Jingdezhen Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute in China. This program offers a broad range of facilities and will allow the artist to learn different ways of approaching the multiple. “Studying the cultural aspects of creative mass production from the traditional to the contemporary and being able to incorporate that process in my work would be a magnificent opportunity and a turning point in my career.” The artist, with Chinese heritage, was born in Taiwan and studied ceramics in Canada. “The chance to go to one of the only major ceramics centres in China will allow me to reconnect with my cultural roots. Support from the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists will give me the possibility to embark on this journey, of which I am sincerely grateful.”

Another highlight of the evening was the engaging and dynamic keynote address by Jonathon Bancroft-Snell, owner of the largest commercial ceramic gallery in Canada, Bancroft-Snell Interiors. We are delighted to have Jonathon share his knowledge with us.

Contact Lauren Hall, Marketing Manager for further information in regard to this or other events at the gallery by phone: 1.519.746.1882 x234 or by e-mail: lauren@canadianclayandglass.ca

Winner Ying-Yueh Chuang

Winifred Shantz with Ying-Yueh Chuang

2005 – Kate Hyde

Kate Hyde Receives the $10,000 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists
Date: Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 8:00pm

Location: Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St N, Waterloo, ON
The highly-anticipated Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists was awarded at a gala event tonight at the The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery to Kate Hyde of Warsaw, Ontario. The annual award – funded by the well-known arts philanthropist and craft enthusiast from Kitchener, Ontario – presents $10,000 for innovative professional development to an emerging potter or clay sculptor, allowing the recipient time for travel, to attend international residencies or to conduct research that will enrich experience and fortify career aspirations in the field of contemporary ceramics.

Winifred Shantz with Kate Hyde and some of Kate’s new work.

Adjudicating this year’s submissions were Karen Fletcher, artist/educator, Stuart Reid, director/curator of the Tom Thomson Memorial Gallery and Maurice Savoie, ceramic sculptor and recipient of the 2004 Saidye Bronfman Award. Applications for the award were received from across Canada.

“My imagination has been engaged since I was a child by clothing, history and theatre,” says Ms. Hyde. “I use historical themes and reference the history of ceramics in my work, for instance Commedia del Arte 18th C. Meissen figures. The clothing in my work is a kind of puzzle: where is the body? The body has vanished, yet its gesture remains and hints about the past.”

Ms. Hyde, who uses porcelain in her work, will be using her award to take up a two-month residency at The International Ceramic Research Centre Guldagergard in Skaelskor, Denmark, alongside related research. “The clarity in use of material and surface treatments and diversity of techniques in Danish design and ceramics are an important influence in my work, particularly with regards to handling of materials and surface treatments.” In Denmark, she will have access to Royal Copenhagen and Limoges porcelains, as well as a wood-fired soda vapour kiln.

Columbine’s Dream
porcelain, 20 cm h (2000)
The Win Shantz Award evening was marked by three exciting and diverse key note speakers. Attendees of the evening’s event enthusiastically welcomed the speakers as representatives of the wealth of diversity of our region’s local talent – which has often earned widespread, international acclaim.

2004 – Joan Bruneau

Joan Bruneau Receives the $10,000 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists
Date: Thursday, September 23, 2004 at 8:00pm

Location: Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St N, Waterloo, ON
The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery is pleased to announce the winner of the 4th annual Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists. This annual award, funded by the well-known arts philanthropist and craft enthusiast from Kitchener, Ontario, is designed to allow the recipient time for travel, to attend international residencies, or to conduct research that will enrich experience and fortify career aspirations in the field of contemporary ceramics.

Joan Bruneau with Winifred Shantz

Adjudicating this year’s submissions were Judy Donaldson Artist/Educator from Waterloo; Evelyn Grant, Artist and Public Arts Administrator from the City of Calgary and Walter Ostrom, Artist Educator from the Nova Scotia School of Art And Design, Halifax. Applications for the award arrived from across Canada.

This year’s $10,000 award was presented to Joan Bruneau, a highly gifted artist from Lunenberg, N.S.

A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Joan has studied and taught her craft in various parts of Canada and the U.S. since 1985. A native of Halifax, she has maintained her ceramic studio and gallery, Nova Terra Cotta, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia since 1995. She received a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1988 and an MFA from the University of Minnesota in 1993. She has served part-time on the Faculty at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design since 1993 and was Assistant Professor at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver from 1998 to 2002. Joan has taught workshops and has exhibited throughout Canada and the U.S. Her work can be seen in detail at www.joanbruneau.com.

Spring, platter
H10 W55 D41cm
“One of the strongest and most influential of European earthenware traditions is Italian maiolica. My interest in researching earthenware decoration and architectural ornament has lead me to apply for a residency at La Meridiana International Centre for Ceramic Arts, 20km south of Florence, Italy. This residency will enable me to internalize research through the exploration of a body of work and provide hands-on studio time to experiment with new techniques, develop new forms and create contemporary responses to historical models.” – Joan Bruneau

Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery promotes the work of national and international artists working in the silica arts through its exhibitions, and fosters understanding of these arts through its educational program.

2003 – Marc Vincent Egan

Marc Vincent Egan – 2003 Recipient of the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists

Education

1987 -1990    Sheridan College, School of Crafts and Design Ceramics Major
July 1996    Ceramics Special Topics, Inlay and Collage, Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design
1990 – 2003    Workshops with John Gill, Jaqueline Rice, Akio Takamori, Alison Britton, Walter Ostrom
March 1989 & 1992    National Conference for Education in Ceramic Arts
Work Experience in Ceramics

January 1994 to present    Studio Potter
April 2001 to present    Ceramics Instructor – The George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. Toronto, Ontario
June 1991 to June 1994    Studio Resident/Ceramics – Instructor Harbourfront Craft Studio. Toronto, Ontario
Group Shows

Apri13 – 27, 2003 Marc Egan And Peggy Mersereau
The Guild Shop, Toronto

February 6 – 28, 2003
Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto

November 16 – December 15, 2002 Bright Lights in a Dark Season
Gallery House Sol, Georgetown

May 26 – June 16, 2000
Fireworks 2000
Ontario Clay & Glass Association Juried Show, Canada (travelling)

April – May 2000 Group Show
New Ceramics Harbinger Gallery, Waterloo

January 23 – February 15, 2000
A Bowl For All Seasons
George R. Gardiner Museum Of Ceramic Art, Toronto

July 9, 10,11, 1999 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
Nathan Phillips Square

July 10, 11, 12, 1998 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
Nathan Phillips Square

June 26 – July 2, 1998 At the Feet Of The Masters
York Quay Gallery, Toronto

May 6 – June 6, 1998
Garden Ornament
Ontario Craft Council Gallery, Toronto

July 10 – October 20, 1997
Ontario Crafts ’97
Ontario Crafts Council Gallery, Toronto

July 11, 12, 13, 1997 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
Nathan Phillips Square

July 18 – August 15, 1996
Production Pottery & Dinnerware: Now & Then
York Quay Center, Toronto

April 28, 1994
Visual Arts Mississauga Juried Craft Exhibition
Mississauga Civic Centre Art Gallery

June – September, 1993
Ontario Crafts 1993,
Ontario Crafts Council juried show

March 26 – April 25, 1993
Objects or Inspiration
Harbourfront Craft Studio residents’ show

Awards and Grants

July 1999
School Services of Canada Award
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

July 1998 and July 1994
Royal Doulton A ward for Best Ceramics in Show,
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

October 1993 and December 2000 OAC Craft Grant Recipient
March 26,1993 Barbara Amesbury Award for Ceramics
Harbourfront Craft Studio Residents Show

2002 – Laurent Craste

Press Release for September 27, 2002
Event: Laurent Craste receives the $10,000 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists
Date: Thursday, September 26, 2001 at 8:00pm
Place: Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St N, Waterloo, ON

The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery is pleased to announce the winner of the annual Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists. This annual award, endowed by the well-known arts philantropist and craft enthusiast from Kitchener, is designed to allow the recipient time for travel, to attend international residencies, or to conduct research that will enrich experience and fortify career aspirations in the field of contemporary ceramics.

Jonathan Smith, Curator of Collections at the Burlington Art Gallery, Bruce Taylor, ceramic artist and educator from the University of Waterloo and Wendy Walgate, Toronto sculptor, adjudicated this year’s submissions. Applications for the award arrived from across Canada.

Laurent Craste, the winner of the 2002 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists

This year’s $10,000 award was presented to Laurent Craste, a highly gifted artist from Montreal. Mr. Craste exhibits widely in Canada and has been in three recent international exhibitions. Coincidentally his work is included in AUTOPORTRAIT, the 10th National Biennial of Ceramics currently on view here. In addition to his ceramic expertise, Mr. Craste also holds a Masters in Physiology and Anatomy and a degree in Veterinary Medicine.
Mr. Craste will use his award to travel to Greece to improve his knowledge of the techniques, the iconography, the function and the symbolism of ancient Greek Ceramics. From there he will visit and be mentored by two famous Italian ceramic artists, Nino Caruso and Luigi Mainolfi. He hopes to do a collaborative work with Luigi Mainolfi.

“I am very much honoured and delighted to be the recipient of the 2002 Winifred Shantz

Award. This prestigious and generous prize will allow me to achieve important projects that will stimulate my artwork and career development”. – Laurent Craste

“Autel particular” – earthenware, glass and wood by Laurent Craste
Laurent Craste’s résumé

2001 – Susan Collett

Susan Collett – 2001 Recipient of of the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists

Artist’s Statement

I was drawn to apply for the Winifrid Shantz Award for Ceramists in order to focus my time to secure the future of my sculptural works. My concepts involve clay in conjunction with nichrome wire. As stimulating and challenging as the demands of running my art business can be, at times it depletes rather than fulfills the inspiration needed to simply create.

The proposal to work for an intensive period in the Ceramic Arts/Industry program at the Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, USA, will place me in an internationally renowned atmosphere to create sculpture within its factory, offering the artist exposure to glaze research laboratories, brass/iron foundries, enameling facilities and industrial pottery studios. The beauty of this valuable award lies in the freedom to realize my imagined goals and raise my sights in learning new ceramic/metal techniques within a community of working artists.

Education

1986    CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART, Ohio, BFA Printmaking/Ceramics Minor
1985    LACOSTE SCHOOL OF ART, France, Sculpture, Printmaking, Painting
1982    CENTRAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL OF ART, Toronto, Diploma in Fine Arts

Exhibitions

2001    TATAR ALEXANDER GALLERY, Toronto, “Range of Vision”, Group, Print
2000    THE GARDINER MUSEUM OF CERAMIC ART, Toronto, Group Invitational, Clay
1999    SOFA, Chicago, USA, Mobilia Gallery Invitational, Clay
MOBILIA GALLERY, Boston, USA, “The Great Balancing Act”, Invitational, Clay
AVANTE GALLERY, Cleveland, USA, Group Invitational, Clay
1998    OPEN STUDIO, Nick Novak Scholarship Exhibition, Two-Person, Prints
1997    GREAT CANADIAN PRINTMAKING COMPETITION, Ernst & Young, National Juried
1995    ONTARIO CRAFTS COUNCIL, Toronto, “Ontario Craft ’95″ Juried, Clay
PRIME GALLERY, Toronto, “Black/White”, Invitational, Prints/Clay
1994    THE GARDINER MUSEUM, Toronto, Solo Exhibition, Clay
FLETCHER CHALLENGE CERAMICS AWARD, New Zealand, International Juried, Clay

Awards

1997    NICK NOVAK SCHOLARSHIP, Printmaking tenure, Open Studio, Toronto
GREAT CANADIAN PRINTMAKING COMPETITION, Ernst & Young, Honourable Mention
1996    ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL, Grant, Printmaking
1995    ONTARIO CRAFT ’95, Tucker’s Pottery Supplies Award, Clay
1994    ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL, Craftsmen Grant, Clay
ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL, Exhibition Assistance Grant
SHEILA HUGH MACKAY FOUNDATION GRANT, New Brunswick, Clay

Publications

2000    LITERARY REVIEW OF CANADA, Cover Art/Editorial Printwork, Vol.8 No.5, June 2000
1999    CANADIAN HOUSE & HOME MAGAZINE- Tile Fireplace credit, Prints, 10/99, 05/98, 10/98
1998    TORONTO STAR NEWSPAPER- “Versatility Allows Artist To Make A Living”, feature 08/29/98
1997    THE DINI PETTY SHOW- Clay Artist Feature, CFTO -TV, Toronto

Collections

ONTARIO SECURITIES COMMISSION
ERNST & YOUNG
ARTHUR ANDERSEN
THE BATA SHOE MUSEUM
THE KOFFLER GALLERY

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