Cedar City, UT—On our way out of Joe’s Valley we decided to stop for a week to work in Cedar City, a college town that sits near the northern border of Zion National Park. Like other small towns we’ve had the pleasure to stumble upon, Cedar City has plenty of facilities to support us, including a great public library, a friendly Walmart where we can park our trailer, a local coffee shop, and the entire Southern Utah University campus, complete with a rec center, Shakepearian-style theater (SUU is home to a renown Shakespeare festival), and a lovely art gallery.
Last night, the gallery—and more specifically, an incredible image of a Julia Galloway pitcher—caught our eye as we wandered around campus. When we stepped into the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery we were greeted by a plethora of familiar names and some of the best ceramic sculpture that we’d seen in a very long time. As Gallery Director at Lillstreet Art Center, I had the pleasure of working with many of the artists included in this show, 50 from 6: Contemporary Ceramics from Six Rocky Mountain States, and the exhibit brought back warm memories of my time at Lill.
About the exhibition:
The six states included are: Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana. Among the 50 artists included in the show are: Birdie Boone, Joe Bova, Sam Chung, Josh DeWeese, Kim Dickey, Adam Field, Julia Galloway, Martha Grover, Sam Harvey, Steven Young Lee, Max Lehman, Beth Lo, Lorna Meaden, Farraday Newsome, Jeremy Randall, Paula Rice, and Triesch Voelker, among others. The work represents a wide variety of styles and ceramic techniques from functional work to sculpture and figuarative to abstract. According to exhibition curator Susan Harris, SUU Professor of Art:
“Artists selected for this exhibition reconfigure standing ceramic traditions in outstanding ways, bridging the past and the future through their work. Included art works illustrate diverse ceramic traditions, from ornate sculpture to utilitarian tableware, with influences from across the world and the historical past.”
Professor Harris brought together a strong group of artists and for this show and adeptly arranged the works on view. Many of the pieces are large, and we learned from the gallery assistant that Harris personally traveled to pick up many of the pieces to spare the artists shipping costs and guard against damage. The Braithwaite Gallery space is quiet and intimate, the lighting is dramatic, and the staff is knowable and welcoming. Below are images of just a few of the 50 stunning works of art on view.
