TeaTime National Invitational at Clay Art Center

Current Exhibition
TeaTime: Annual National Invitational
February 1- April 1, 2014

This exhibition of functional and sculptural teapots explores the history of tea and its relevance in our culture. The exhibition will highlight the teapot, whose form and related ceremonies has inspired artists for centuries and continues to be a valid form of expression in studios of contemporary artists today.
The exhibit, curated by Caitlin Applegate and Leigh Taylor Mickelson, will highlight the teapot and its ceremonies which are found worldwid. In addition, CAC will be hosting several programs to enrich the exhibition, including workshops, historical lectures, a panel discussion and several educational programs. The Shop at CAC will feature handmade works by CAC Artists and invited guest artists.

Featuring 70 contemporary ceramic artists, TeaTime will highlight the teapot and tea-set. Artists will explore tea traditions and redefine what tea is in contemporary culture. What will bring the exhibition together is TEA, its rich history, its place in our life, and its influence in contemporary ceramics.

In conjunction with TeaTime, Clay Art Center will explore clay and its relationship to tea, with its global pervasiveness in a series of events and educational programs occurring throughout the duration of exhibition. Semester-long adult and children’s classes take a look at form and function in relation to tea and its global culture. Two shorter workshops will also be presented in conjunction with this exhibition. South Carolina artist Jim Connell will present a one-day workshop entitled “The Teapot,” on Saturday, February 8: Fee: $100 members. Keiko Ashida will present a four week workshop in February in which students will be immersed in the Japanese tea ceremony: Sunday, February 9, 16, 23, 1pm–4pm & Saturday, March 1, 1-4 pm Fee: $150 members. On Valentine’s Day, the Clay Art Center will host “date night” a fun filled time for couples to make their own “tea for two” tea cups on the potters’ wheel and have their personal tea leaves read by a local tea leaf reader.

On Saturday, March 1 from 1-4pm, CAC will host Tea Immersion. Three presentations from known authorities will offer their personal perspective on tea culture. Leslie Ferrin, Author of Teapots Transformed; Exploration of an Object, will present an overview of contemporary ceramic teapots, Ulysses Dietz, Senior Curator at the Newark Museum will offer an historical survey of the teapot both as a functional form and as an artistic challenge in the West, and Michael Harney, VP of Harney & Sons Master Tea Blenders, will speak about tea tastes and traditions in various tea growing lands and how that has influenced tea pots in several countries. A panel discussion will follow the lectures moderated by Judith Schwartz, Professor of Art & Art Professions at NYU. Tea tastings will culminate the event hosted by poured by Harney & Sons. Fee: $25 members.

Annual National Invitational:
Each year, CAC hosts a themed national invitational that showcases the breadth and depth of what is happening in the realm of functional and decorative ceramics. TeaTime and its concurrent events highlight the invitational to re-imagine and re-position the exhibition and contextualize the objects within its cultural milieu. The exhibition combines familiar forms and artistic voices with the results of those who branched out a bit?? Simultaneous events will allow participants and community members to become immersed in the narrative of tea and its global reach.

The participating artists range from emerging to established in their careers and include: Sally Aldrich, Dan Anderson, Peter Arnow, Christa Assad, Keiko Ashida, Deborah Bedwell, Dalia Berman, Margaret Bohls, Posey Boucopoulos, Jenni Brant, Kelly Brenner Justice, Cory Brown, Jeff Campana, Wayne Cardinalli, Jeanne Carreau, Donald Clark, Bede Clarke, Jane Cohen, Jim Connell, Paula Cook, Jennifer DePaolo, Kelsey Duncan, Julie Elkins, Karen Ford, Robin Henschel, Beth Herod, Debra Holiber, Woody Hughes, Natalie Kase, Reena Kashyap, Elizabeth Kendall, Sarah Koster, Ben Krupka, Jim Lawton, Kazuko Lee, Janet Lipow, Matt Long, Loren Maron, Andrew Martin, Deborah Mawhinney, Rose Misanchuk, Sally Ng, Gloria Nixon-Crouch, Kiyomi Noda, Matt Nolen, Richard Notkin, Chris Pickett, Audrey Rosulek, Shoji Satake, Lily Schor, Roberta Shapiro, Harold Silverman, Gertrude Graham smith, Amy Smith, Florence Suerig, Mara Superior, Hatsumi Suyama, Munemitsu Taguchi, Georgia Tenore, Susan Thayer, Matthew Towers, Judith Weber, Kurt Weiser, Susan Wortman.

Clay Art Center is a not-for-profit ceramic art organization offering exhibitions, clay classes for adults and children, studio spaces for clay artists and outreach programs in the community. It is located in the heart of Port Chester at 40 Beech Street, Port Chester, NY 10573. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10am-4pm or by appointment.