Wayne Higby to Jury MI Ceramics 2006

MCAA is indeed fortunate to have internationally known ceramic artist and educator Wayne Higby as juror for Michigan Ceramics 2006 in October. This is the second time Higby has served as juror for the show, the first being in 1979.

Higby has been a major figure in American ceramics since his one-person show at the American Craft Museum in 1973. Earning his BFA from the University of Colorado and his MFA from the University of Michigan, he has also won recognition as an educator. Currently Professor of Ceramic Art and Department Chairman at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, he previously taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Nebraska. In 1993 he won the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at Alfred.

Higby’s other awards include a Recognition of Excellence by the American Ceramic Society, the American Craft Movement Visionary Award by the American Craft Museum, election to the College of Fellows by the American Craft Council, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two Howard Foundation Fellowships, a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, and more.

His work appears in collections world wide, including the American Craft Museum, the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, the Jingdezhen Museum of Ceramic Art in China, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Museum Hetkruithuis in the Netherlands.

Lake Powell Memory—Winter Rain by Wayne Higby, porcelain, 1998

Aperture Rock by Wayne Higby, raku, 2001

In addition, he has been named Honorary Professor of Ceramic Art, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in China, and Honorary Professor of Art, College of Fine Arts, Shanghai University.

Higby’s involvement with the establishment of an international ceramic art center in China began in the 1990’s as a dream he shared with Jackson Li of Jingdezhen. With their help and the support of Alfred University and the China Ceramic Cultural Exchange, the Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute at Jingdezhen was inaugurated and hosted its first international porcelain symposium in 2000.

Long known for the evocative landscape imagery on his raku-fired work, Higby now also works in porcelain as a result of his extensive travels and work in

China. “My central interests have not changed although the work has,” he writes. “Today, I’m thinking more about architecture, but essentially I am concerned with landscape imagery as a focal point of mediation.”

MCAA members will have the opportunity to hear more about Wayne Higby’s visions and work at a slide lecture planned as part of the Michigan Ceramics Exhibition.

MI Ceramics 2006 To Appear in New Space

MCAA is excited about the location of the 22nd edition of Michigan Ceramics – The Art Center in downtown Mt. Clemens, recently renamed The Anton Art Center. Established in 1969 in the historic Carnegie Library, the center has recently expanded its facility and its mission. In 1997 it launched a five-year program to place “Art in Public Places” through a major gift from the Gebran S. and Suzanne P. Anton Foundation. This year, with the help of the Antons and many others, the center will realize a 40-year dream of becoming a dynamic regional center for both performing and visual arts when its expanded and renovated facility opens in September.

The renovation and expansion has preserved the integrity of the historic building while adding more than 3500 square feet of space, cooling capabilities and accommodations for disabled visitors. The new design includes space for classes, retail shop, offices, the performing arts, and the visual arts. At the ribbon cutting ceremony September 21, the facility will officially be renamed The Anton Art Center to honor its benefactors.