World Clay Collab
International Ceramic Exhibition
Date: Jul 21 – Aug 10Space: Main Gallery
When Coni Kalinowski relocated to Auckland from Las Vegas she became interested in bringing her two cities and love for clay together.
“I started talking with Thom Bumblauskas and Peter Jakubowski, owners of Clay Arts Vegas, about what a collaboration project might look like to bring clay artists from New Zealand and the US together in a creative process that would showcase our different styles and traditions and our mutual love of clay art.” Coni Kalinowski
The original concept for the World Clay Collab project was to pair artists from Clay Arts Vegas in Las Vegas with artists from the Auckland Studio Potters and ask them to collaborate to produce a piece of ceramic art. Collaboration can have many meanings, from working on one piece that artists sent back and forth, to making pieces that interlocked together, to just sharing a common idea and each creating their own work on a topic. As they developed this concept, visiting artists to Clay Arts Vegas from various parts of the world expressed interest, and Thom and Peter figured why stop with Las Vegas and New Zealand!
“Clay Arts Vegas is growing into a leader in ceramic arts and this was the perfect opportunity to cast the net wider and include artists from all over the USA and beyond. Our studio regularly features work from some of the world’s top ceramic artists. These individuals have become part of the artistic voice of the studio and a part of our community. By inviting these artists to collaborate with Las Vegas artists we are trying to do our part to expand the voices of our community and to raise the profile of Las Vegas as an international arts city.” Thom Bumblauskas
For Coni, she also hoped that the project would broaden international awareness of New Zealand clay art and artists. Her experience of the clay community here, as an outsider, was that it was very close-knit and did not get the exposure it deserves beyond the confines of our islands.
Ultimately 43 artists from 7 countries contributed their work to this project, and with much excitement, the exhibit was set to open in Las Vegas City Hall in February 2020. However, another unexpected global extravaganza took centre stage, and the first lockdowns took place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the exhibit moved from City Hall to the Victor F. Keen Gallery of Clay Arts Vegas. It was then displayed in the Virtual Gallery of The University of North Dakota, followed by the Red Peak Gallery of the First State Bank of Wyoming. It then went to the Goodstein Art Gallery of Casper College in Wyoming, finally it was shown at the gallery of The George School in Pennsylvania. The exhibition has finally made its way to our shores…
After shows in various Auckland galleries, World Clay Collab is opening soon at Creative Arts Napier!
Please join us at the opening on Friday 21 July at 5pm – all welcome
View the exhibition 21 July – 10 August 2023
Free Entry