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February 21, 2003/Adar1 19 5763, Vol. 55, No. 26
Ceramics tour offers glimpse of creations
JESSICA BARBER
Staff Writer
Stephanie Lee will demonstrate how her art is made during the Self-Guided Ceramic Studio Tour on March 1.
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lee
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Valley art connoisseurs will soon have the opportunity to watch artists create their masterpieces.
More than 40 local ceramics artists will demonstrate their craft at 10 studios around the Valley during the Self-Guided Ceramic Studio Tour, presented by The Arizona State University Ceramics Research Center of the Herberger College of Fine Arts.
The tour, organized by the Artist's Advisory Committee, will benefit operations at the center, explains Peter Held, ceramics curator of the Ceramics Research Center.
"The event was initially planned as a fund-raiser," he says, "but it also serves to create a higher awareness of (ceramic artists) that live around the Valley."
Stephanie Lee, a ceramics teacher at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center and the youngest tour participant, will demonstrate making her nonfunctional, decorative pieces at the Luis Baiz Studio in Phoenix.
"The studio tours are really for educational purposes," says the 25-year-old artist. "During the tour, each artist gives an example of how they make their art."
Tour participants may catch a shuttle at the ASU Art Museum at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 1, to travel to various Valley studios under the guidance of ASU Art Museum curators. Participants on the guided tour can choose the East Valley Tour or the West Valley Tour, each featuring five studio stops and a break for lunch. Participants may also travel to studios on their own.
Each studio will feature four Valley artists with 15-minute demonstrations of their artistic specialties.
Guided tours will return to the museum between 4:30- 5 p.m.
Sherrie Zeitlin, who will showcase her work at Sherrie E. Zeitlin Studios in Phoenix during the tour, sculpts what she calls "garden imagery."
"I do garden-inspired sculptures and I'm known for my porcelain nesting bowls," she says.
Zeitlin, who has been working as a full-time artist since 1975, joined the tour to help the public unravel the mystery of the creation of art.
"(The tour) is not only fun," she says, "but it also allows the public time to see into the private lives of artists ... and I think they are intrigued by that. I am more than happy to open up my studio and allow people to peek into my life."
Nina Ilitzky Solomon will feature molded and mold-made figurative work at Jan Peterson Studio in Scottsdale during the tour.
"My figurative sculptures have traditional figurative faces, but the bodies of the figures are molded from plastic containers that you get with salad or things like that," reveals Solomon. "It reflects the idea of how we're contained by our cultures in ways that we don't really see."
The tour is the second of its kind sponsored by the ASU Art Museum's Ceramic Research Center, created in March 2002 with the help of Paradise Valley residents Sara and David Lieberman. The Liebermans made monetary contributions to the center and volunteered their own private collection of ceramics to be displayed at the center.
"We have over 3,000 pieces in the permanent collection and an exhibition space," says Held. "The new exhibition is the Liebermans' private collection."
Last year's ceramic tour attracted about 100 guests, estimates Held. This year, the center hopes to attract more participants.
"We can always walk into a gallery ... but it's not often that studios are open," says Zeitlin. "Seeing where an artist works has always been a mystical thing for the general public."
The Ceramics Research Center is located at the northeast corner of 10th Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe.
Participating Valley studios include Indigo Street Pottery, ASU Graduate Ceramics Studios, Jeremy Briddell Studio, Joan Baron Studio, Julius Forzano Ceramic Studio, Sherrie E. Zeitlin Studios, Hjalmarson Pottery, Luis Baiz Studio, Paradise Valley Community College and Jan Peterson Studio.
Details
- Who: ASU Ceramics Research Center
- What: Self-Guided Ceramic Studio Tour
- When: 9 a.m. Saturday, March 1
- Where: Guided tour participants can meet at ASU Art Museum, southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street, Tempe
- Cost: Guided tour is $80, including lunch; Self-guided tour is free
- Call: 480-965-2787 for artists' schedules and locations
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