Waterloo, Ontario
Designed for practicing artists, studio managers, researchers, and more, this symposium will feature an artist round table, exhibition tour, hands-on demonstrations, and presentations across two days at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery in Waterloo.
Climate change and sustainability are serious issues for all of us. Artists and makers are increasingly attentive to the impacts of their artistic practice on the natural environment and our local communities. Artists want to be confident that their work isn’t contributing to dangerous climate change trends, while consumers and collectors are seeking more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Symposium attendees will learn about ways to make their ceramics and glass practice more sustainable, how environmental impacts of their studio can be measured, and contemporary approaches to exploring climate change and the natural environment in ceramic and glass arts.
Our opening keynote presentation will feature Robert Harrison (Helena, MT), practicing ceramic artist and author of Sustainable Ceramics. The two-day event will feature a closing keynote presentation by artist Hazel Frost of Studio Frostwood (Edinburgh, UK) discussing their ceramics studio sustainability journey. More details are below.
The Symposium will close with a guided tour of SOS: A Story of Survival, Part III – The Planet, by curator Darryn Doull at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.
Symposium registration includes access to two days of activities on-site at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, lunch both days, and a VIP reception with wine and cheese.
Tickets are available NOW at the link below!
Featured Presenters:
Robert Harrison will present our opening keynote presentation. A practicing ceramic artist and author of Sustainable Ceramics, Harrison will trace the historical importance and evolution of ceramics through the industrial revolution through to the present. He will highlight sustainable ceramics facilities and artists working sustainably, along with sustainable studios, wild clay, sustainable firing practices, and how to safely dispose of ceramic materials.
Robert Harrison holds both Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Ceramics. He has taught Ceramics at the University level and held administrative positions in Ceramic Programs both in Canada (the Banff Centre for the Arts) and the USA. He has served on the Board of NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) as President and the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana as President. Well known for his large-scale architectural sculpture he continues to evolve and exhibit smaller scale studio works. His interests in history and world cultures have provided numerous opportunities to work and travel abroad. In 2001 he was elected to the International Academy of Ceramics. In 2007 he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) and in 2008 was awarded the Meloy Stevenson Award of Excellence from the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. In 2010 Robert was a founding member of the World Association of Brick Artists (WABA) and in 2011 Robert was honored as a Fellow of the NCECA Council. His book Sustainable Ceramics: A Practical Guide published by Bloomsbury (London) and the American Ceramic Society (Ohio) debuted in the fall of 2013.
In this talk, Hazel Frost will share insights from her exploration of sustainable ceramics, detailing Studio Frostwood’s research journey—from conserving materials and analyzing energy consumption to the projects that grew from these efforts. As a trained studio potter and designer, she comes at the subject as an everyday artist, rather than an expert, making the topic approachable and accessible for those who may find sustainability intimidating or overly technical.
Demonstration – From Scraps to Art: Techniques for Sustainable Installation
In this demonstration, Hazel Frost will showcase a variety of techniques central to her installation practice, focusing on the creative integration of waste materials into ceramic work. Drawing from her research into sustainability, Hazel will explore methods for transforming studio byproducts into rich textures and innovative forms. Attendees will gain insight into how discarded clay and other materials can be reimagined, highlighting the potential for sustainable artistry in contemporary ceramics. These techniques form the foundation of her ongoing installation project, blending environmental mindfulness with tactile exploration.
Hazel Frost is a ceramic artist and designer whose work explores the intersections of materiality, sustainability, and storytelling. As co-founder of Studio Frostwood, Hazel undertook a year-long research project into the sustainability of ceramics, with a focus of refining studio practices to minimise environmental impact. This research extended beyond ceramics, collaborating with other craft disciplines to repurpose waste materials, creating new avenues for sustainable making.
With over a decade of experience in ceramics, Hazel Frost creates pieces that draw inspiration from landscapes, particularly the delicate balance of ecosystems like Scotland’s peatlands. Her practice emphasizes the transformative power of clay—working with diverse materials, including waste clay from her studio, to explore themes of consumption, renewal, and the resilience of the natural world. Deeply rooted in an intuitive and process-driven approach, her work often highlights textures and patterns that evoke the tension between human activity and environmental fragility. Through her research, she examines the cultural and ecological significance of materials, seeking to uncover connections between craft, conservation, and climate awareness.
Sustainability is a consideration in every aspect of one’s life. While this symposium is focused on ceramics, my presentation will ask delegates to look at the bigger picture. Do you use a smart phone? travel by air? make purchases online? use public transportation? Self-reflection about such questions is as much a part of craft practice as ethically procured clay or non-toxic glazes. My presentation is intended as a provocation to un-silo sustainability and see it as a wide-reaching personal commitment that is integral to being a craftsperson.
D Wood has a Ph.D. in design studies and is an independent craft scholar whose artist profiles and exhibition reviews have appeared in an international roster of art and design publications. She is the editor of and contributor to Craft Is Political (Bloomsbury, 2021) and is currently undertaking a second volume on the same topic. She lives in Toronto, Canada.
How does the process of creating one’s own materials and technologies affect the ecological footprint of glass and overall art practice? What are the environmental impacts of trying to make your own glass? How constructing furnaces from bricks and clay, both traditionally and in contemporary practice enter a more environmental art practice? In this discussion Amélie and Geneviève are going to address their research on glassmaking called Pneuma. They will also cover pigments and DIY furnace making in the Anthropocene era. Resources consumption, waste management and innovation vs tradition will be at the core of our discussion.
Geneviève Grenier, a multidisciplinary artist from Quebec City, works with glass, ceramics and photography. Now based in Tiohtià:ke , Montreal, her work navigates between the beauty of the abject, the imprint of anxious rituals as well as the quest for origins, the processes of transformation. Passionate about societal structures, trying in different ways to magnify the visceral through the poetic, her work consists of different sculptural collages around corporeality, incarnation, the empire of the senses, all defined by her poetic and political experience of human relationships. Her works function as lexicons, installations, scenography. She studied glass at Espace Verre and holds an MFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University
Amélie Bélanger lives in Frelighsburg located on Ndakina territory (Eastern Townships), of the W8banaki. Her practice is centered around the research and development of artistic materials, based on the gathering and transformation of plant matter, in connection with practices related to textile construction. She holds a Master’s degree in Studio Art from Concordia University and she teaches visual art at Concordia University and Cégep de Granby.
What does it mean to be an artist making-with ceramics in a time of ecological crisis? Donna Haraway in Staying with the Trouble, outlines the importance of sympoiesis, the act of making-with while acknowledging that nothing is self-organizing. When thinking this through with the lens of a sculptor, an involvement with material is understood as interacting components, continuously transf ormed and destroyed by a network of processes that form a whole and are self-sustaining. Shifts in perspective and studio practices that reflect a commitment of care to the planet we live on in sustainable ways will be explored throughout. This dance tells a story about how life and reality correlate, art and making, evolving, co-producing with expansive, nurturing, vibrant creativity.
As a process and material driven artist that explores elemental entanglement, my presentation will explore possible positions. Finding it useful to look to the past, the work of Ruth Duckworth will be introduced, an influential artist to my approach. My research creation exploring the concept of material reciprocity and what working-with means will be presented in addition to a live practical demo.
D’Andrea Bowie is an artist living and working in the Whitchurch-Highlands, located in rural outskirts of Toronto. Her current research investigates alchemical potential of extracted world building elements, specifically through an eco-feminist and materialistic lens that de-centers the human; highlighting reciprocity between maker, material and time. D’Andrea has recently completed a Master of Fine Arts from York University where she was awarded a SSHRC Research Scholarship, CGS Master’s Scholarship and the Susan Crocker and John Hunkin Award. While raising her children, D’Andrea completed a BFA at OCADU over the course of eight years in Sculpture & Installation where she was the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards. Her projects have received support from the Ontario Arts Council and in 2024 she attended Pilchuck Glass School with the support of a Chalmer’s Professional Development Projects Grant. Her work has been included in multiple group shows, community spaces and alternative outdoor spaces. She has held solo exhibitions in commercial and public galleries, most recently, Fall to Center at the Aird Gallery in Toronto.
In this presentation and demonstration, ceramic sculptor Melanie Barnett will discuss how speculation, worldbuilding, and science fiction can be utilized in ceramic to imagine alternate futures. Using her project, “it looked like your BioSuit” as a scaffold, Barnett will show how she melds real-world innovation and scientific knowledge with fantastical worldbuilding and fiction.
Melanie Barnett is a ceramicist whose work draws upon themes of mycology, agronomy, and climate science to create sci-fi worldbuilding experiences that speculate upon the future. She holds an MFA from NSCAD University (2024) and a BFA Honours in Ceramics from IshKaabatens Waasa Gaa Inaabateg Department of Visual Art, Brandon University (2021). Melanie’s work has been included in national and international publications, including Art MAZE Magazine (London, England), Art&Type Magazine (New York), and ArtsinSquare Magazine (Toronto). She is a long-term artist in residence at Medalta in the Historic Clay District in Medicine Hat, AB. Barnett’s work has been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts (2024), The Elizabeth Greenshield’s Foundation Grant (2022), the Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship (2023), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Canada Graduate Scholarship-Masters (2023). She was the recipient of the Governor Generals Gold medal in Academic Excellence (2024) awarded at NSCAD University.
SOS: A Story of Survival, Part III – The Planet is the third and final part in KWAG’s three-year exhibition cycle that asks big questions about survival and strategies for nurturing hope. It has also prompted a number of self-reflexive questions for the institution and how it can become more sustainable within its own programming and greater operations. Curator Darryn Doull will untangle some of these threads during a tour of the exhibition.
Darryn Doull is the Curator: Exhibitions & Programs, at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (2021 – present), with previous appointments as the Curator of Canadian Art at The Rooms in St. John’s, NL (2018 – 2021) and as the Assistant Curator of the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery in Sarnia, ON (2010 – 2016). His curatorial approach brings artworks, objects and archives together to produce poly-vocal, socially engaged programming that is rooted in research and collaboration. Recent projects include SOS: A Story of Survival, Part III – The Planet (2024), Part II – The Body (2023), Part I – The Image (2022), and Billy Gauthier: Sila (2024). Doull graduated from the MVS Curatorial Studies program at the University of Toronto (2018) and received an Honours BFA at the University of Guelph (2010). He is currently based in Toronto, ON.
Supported By:
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
