{"id":40285,"date":"2025-07-29T01:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T05:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/?p=40285"},"modified":"2025-09-09T09:19:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T13:19:03","slug":"nceca-2025-reflections-on-diversity-legacy-and-a-growing-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/articles\/nceca-2025-reflections-on-diversity-legacy-and-a-growing-community\/","title":{"rendered":"NCECA 2025: Reflections on diversity, legacy, and a growing community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Elaine Henry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diversity has many faces. The online Cambridge Dictionary<\/em> defines diversity as \u201cmany different types of things or people being included in something; a range of different things or people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When, at the 1991 NCECA conference, Bobby Scroggins noticed the lack of black and brown faces, he rallied several attendees, including Imna Arroyo, Greg Busceme, Stephen Carter, Dora Hernandez, Winnie Owens-Hart, and others. This team became the founding members of The Color Network<\/a>. Scroggins, James Tanner, Paul Andrew Wandless, and others, became board members, with some of the above serving as presidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the 1996 conference, Paul Andrew Wandless, a Chicago-based African American artist, met Scroggins through his undergraduate professor, James Tanner, an African American artist and president of NCECA from 1996 to 1998. Following their introduction, Wandless became a member of The Color Network, and Scroggins eventually passed him the baton to lead the organization.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

My 10 years on the NCECA board of directors began in 1994 and, with two years of breaks in between terms, ended in 2006. During that time, we worked to expand the diversity on the board. We succeeded in adding a few members of diverse races, nationalities, cultures, sexes, ages, genders, and sexual orientations, but the audience at the annual conferences remained less diverse than we would have liked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I was President of NCECA (2002\u20132004), the attendance at the conferences included approximately 15 countries. This year, 6,148 attendees from 29 countries were represented, with half of these countries being home to people of color from both sides of the equator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2025 NCECA Multicultural Fellowship Recipients with NCECA mentord, board, and staff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then, fast forward and, in 2014, Theaster Gates gave a keynote address at the annual conference. His talk was titled, \u201cThe Need for Blackness in the Contemporary Ceramics Community.\u201d As a part of this thesis, he pointed out the lack of diversity within the 4000+ member audience he faced. NCECA took this to heart and, with the support of donors, members, and the NCECA Board, the NCECA Multi-Cultural Fellowship was launched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward again, and NCECA 2025, \u201cFormation,\u201d and the presenters, the attendance, the board of directors, are all diverse in the ways mentioned above. It has taken a village, but NCECA has made the effort to change the face of the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this year\u2019s conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, Malcolm Lehi, a Councilman for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe provided a sacred invocation for the opening ceremonies of the conference. About Lehi\u2019s talk, NCECA 2025 Conference Co-Liaison, Antra Singh (Utah State University) relates,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In India, we do an invocation before starting an event, a journey, or something as simple as accepting a meal. These are performed as prayer, meditation, and\/or devotional practice. When Malcolm Lehi started his sacred prayer in his language, it reminded me of the times when monks\/Sadhu in India would chant in Sanskrit. Those chants would include familiar names or names of places interwoven in the recitations like I heard in Malcolm\u2019s invocation. I was transported to familial spaces with the way we began the SLC [Salt Lake City] conference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

From India and now living in the US, Singh\u2019s comments remind us that we as humans have more in common than what divides us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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NCECA 2025 Annual Exhibition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NCECA 2025 Multicultural Fellowship Exhibition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NCECA 2025 Juried Student Exhibition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Judith Schwartz expertly curated the NCECA 2025 Annual Exhibition, True and Real<\/em><\/a>, which was held at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, just a few steps from the convention center. Five artists were invited to \u201cspearhead the theme,\u201d as Schwartz puts it, a diverse group that included Tip Toland, Syd Carpenter, Steven Young Lee, Roberto Lugo, and Simone Leigh. Schwartz writes, \u201cI am thrilled to include Simone Leigh\u2019s Black and White film, Conspiracy<\/em>, which was showcased at the Venice Biennale.\u201d Other stunning works in the exhibition were by Lindsay Pichaske, Du Chau, and Lauren Kalman, to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on view at UMOCA were the Multicultural Fellowship Exhibition, and the NCECA Juried Student Exhibition.Lectures on the program were as diverse as the participants, ranging from James Tingey\u2019s, \u201cVolcanic Pumice and Clay Body Formulation,\u201d Erin Shafkind\u2019s \u201cWe Make Stuff in Here,\u201d Diego Valles\u2019s \u201cMata Ortiz Ceramics History and Stories,\u201d Jake Boggs\u2019s \u201cCeramics of Hawaii,\u201d Katie C. Doyle\u2019s \u201cSelf-Portrait in Catastrophe: Dillingham\u2019s AIDS Series,\u201d to British academic Anthony Quinn\u201ds \u201cDecoding Ceramics: Digital Transmission of Expertise.\u201d These papers and more are available in this year\u2019s NCECA Journal, which can be purchased through NCECA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2025 Demonstrating Artists were Kyungmin Park and Diego Valles. Kyungmin Park, a South Korean-born ceramics artist, writes, \u201cCeramic art is far more than just shaping clay. It is a medium for weaving stories \u2013 stories that transcend time, cultures, and language.\u201d In contrast, Diego Valles is a potter from Mata Ortiz in Chihuahua, Mexico, whose work, he writes, \u201chelps him connect with his artistic and cultural roots, his fellow potters, and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCECA Emerging Artists never fail to impress. Their 10-minute presentations of their lives and their work are lively, moving, and they always leave the audience wanting more. This year\u2019s Emerging Artists are Austin Coudriet, Reniel Del Rosario, Vincent (Sniper) Frimpong, Chenlu Hou, Michelle Solorzano, and Micah Lewis-Van Sweezie. They are all artists to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Austin Coudriet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Chenlu Hou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Michelle Solorzano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Vincent Frimpong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Micah Lewis-Van Sweezie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Reniel Del Rosario<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Diego Valles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kyungmin Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A highlight was nonagenarian Ron Meyers being named an Honorary Member of NCECA. Now retired from teaching at the University of Georgia, Meyers is a delightful man with a permanent smile on his face who is still working in the studio and producing his energetically wonderful pots. Long-time friend and fellow artist George Metropoulos McCauley, along with Maria Dondero, and moderator Rebecca Harvey presented moving and humorous anecdotal accounts of their relationships with the master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s conference brought out many of our ceramics heroes, including former presidents of NCECA Joe Bova, Patsy Cox, Lenny Dowhie, Mary Jane Edwards, Susan Filley, Holly Hanessian, Robert Harrison, Anna Calluori Holcombe, Chris Staley, Rhonda Willers, and ceramics icons Fred Olsen and Tom Coleman (sorry if I missed someone). We have missed seeing some of these people for several years, so it was great to reconnect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrasting with the above, NCECA reported 1171 students in attendance, which works out to be 19% of the attendees. These, I am sure, included some whose work was selected for the K\u201312 Exhibition as well as the NCECA Juried Student Exhibition, which are always exceptional representations of what is happening in our school systems and our higher education institutions. These exhibitions give us glimpses into the hopeful future for ceramics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along those lines, I asked NCECA\u2019s Executive Director, Josh Green, where NCECA is going from here, especially with the recent news of cuts by the National Endowment for the Arts. Here is his response:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognizing that ceramics is an art form that has evolved in nuanced ways through nearly every cultural legacy, NCECA will stay the course in its expansive and inclusive vision of the field. The National Endowment for the Arts has never been a certain source of funding, and direct support of fellowships was never an eligible use of that funding. Changes in funding priorities and resources, available support through the Endowment, make the path ahead more challenging. The greatest source of sustaining NCECA\u2019s efforts will come through the continued commitment, support, and growth of membership.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Including diversity and other strides made by NCECA in the past 30+ years, go here<\/a> to see the faces of the board. Having been registered for the NCECA Conference every year since 1992, I will continue to support the organization as much as I can. I will still attend to see old friends, to make new friends and, as importantly, to learn. Next year\u2019s conference will be in Detroit, Michigan, US, and I am confident it won\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Elaine Olafson Henry<\/a><\/strong> is a ceramics artist, curator, writer, proofreader, and local volunteer. She is the former Editor and Publisher of the international ceramics journals Ceramics: Art & Perception and Ceramics TECHNICAL. She earned a BFA from the University of Wyoming, an MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and an MA in English at the University of Wyoming. Henry taught at Emporia State University in Kansas from 1996\u20132007 where she served as the Chair of the Department of Art from 2000\u20132007. She served as the President of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) 2002\u20132004 and the International Ceramics Magazine Editors Association (ICMEA) 2014\u20132016. She is currently an Honorary Member and Fellow of NCECA, and a lifetime member of ICMEA. Her work is internationally published, exhibited and collected. She is an elected member of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subscribe to Ceramics Now<\/a><\/strong> to read similar articles, essays, reviews and critical reflections on contemporary ceramics. Subscriptions enable us to feature a wider range of voices, perspectives, and expertise within the ceramics community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images courtesy of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Elaine Henry Diversity has many faces. The online Cambridge Dictionary defines diversity as \u201cmany different types of things or people being included in something; a range of different things or people.\u201d When, at the 1991 NCECA conference, Bobby Scroggins noticed the lack of black and brown faces, he rallied several attendees, including Imna Arroyo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3594],"tags":[6634,6991,6993,6996,6995,957,6994,6132,6982],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40285"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40809,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40285\/revisions\/40809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceramicsnow.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}