Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics

Born and raised in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Amy Duval received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2017 where she focused on large scale ceramic installation based work that combine her various conceptual and technical interests. In 2017 she was accepted as a Ceramic Artist in Residence at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto where she lived and worked for two years. She currently resides in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she continues her private studio practice while working as the Residency Coordinator at the Shaw Centre for Contemporary Ceramics, an International Artist in Residence Program.

Francois' path to ceramic art is not a typical one. His interest with clay first began with the study of surface treatment. From there, he progressed to hand building as a mean to create a canvas for the dry glazes - the 'crusts'. A large portion of his practice continues to focus on developing dry crusts for clay shapes designed to give life to the materials enrobing them. Francois' research into surface treatment has been transferred into a technical book for the ceramic students, offering a method that demystifies the nature of glazes and allows the learner to work and research raw material independently.

Francois' current focus is an examination of the relationship between texture and form, and how dry glazes can be extended to large figurative installations.  His work has been shown in twelve group exhibits and his first solo show is scheduled to open in June 2023.

Brianne Siu is an emerging ceramic artist based in Vancouver and has been working in ceramics since 2015. After earning her BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2019, she has gained valuable teaching experience working at various art centres across Metro Vancouver sharing her knowledge and passion for ceramics.

Brianne has worked as a studio assistant to Heather Dahl and learned a lot about her successful business and practice. Brianne has also completed a year-long residency at Medalta in the Historic Clay District in Medicine Hat, Alberta from 2021-2022. Meanwhile, she has been dedicating her time creating a new body of work and continuing to grow as an artist at Nanaimo Ceramic Arts for a 4 month residency. She hopes to continue developing her artistic practice by either continuing residencies or pursuing further education.

Dr. Elaine Cheasley Paterson is Professor of Craft Studies in the Department of Art History at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Concordia University in Montréal. Her research concerns women's cultural philanthropy in early 20^th century craft guilds of the home arts movement and for tracing a lineage from this historical material to current expressions of craft. A new line of her research focusses on education, settlement, social benevolence and imperial philanthropy (through the migration of people, craft practices and objects) in early twentieth-century Britain and Canada. Some of her publications include Craft and Heritage: Intersections in Critical Studies and Practice (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021), a special issue on Identity, Craft, Marketing of the Journal of Canadian Art History (2018), and Sloppy Craft: Postdisciplinarity and the Crafts (2015) with Susan Surette.

​Robin DuPont is a ceramic artist and educator specializing in atmospheric firing techniques. His work is an inquiry into the ceramic process and the relational aspects of useful objects.

With a Masters Degree from Utah State University, Robin has also participated in several artist-in-residence programs, research and work studies abroad and has professional experience in kiln building and teaching at the post secondary level.

Roswitha Wulff was born in Tabrize, Iran but spent her early childhood with her mother, potter Helma Klett, in Germany. She came to Australia at the age of eight. In 1964, she obtained a ceramics certificate from the East Sydney Technical College. From 1964-65, she worked with Robin Welch and Ian Sprague at Sprague's Mungeribar Pottery in Upper Beaconsfield, VIC. In 1966 she worked at the Sturt Pottery in Mittagong, NSW under Les Blakebrough. Between 1967 and 1969 she travelled overseas, spending 6 monthe with Robin Welch after his return to England and 9 months as a full-time thrower at Briglin Pottery, London, as well as working in potteries in Denmark and Germany. From 1969-70, she worked in North-West Pakistan as a research scholar for the Smithonian Institute and the University of NSW. Returning to Australia in 1970, she set up a workshop in Paddington, NSW, with the help of an Australia Council grant and taught part-time at the East Sydney Technical College and the Willoughby Workshop Art Centre. Since then she has been a lecturer and Head of Ceramics in many institutions, including the National Art School. In the 1990s, she moved her studio to Botany Bay, NSW, where she still lives and works.