BSC ArtsQuest welcomes clay and brick artists-in-residence

Post Date: Mar 26 2015
 
Jocelyn Howard
                            Jocelyn Howard
Bismarck State College hosts four artists-in-residence with ties to Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana April 7-11 during ArtsQuest, BSC's month-long celebration of the arts.

In this "Past and Present" residency, current and former ceramic and brick/tile sculpture artists will work with students and others April 7-9 in Werner Hall studio #212.

The public is invited to interact and work with the artists April 10-11 on brick and tile prototype projects in Werner Hall and the Robert A. Kuntz Physical Plant building. Interested persons can engage in hands-on participation and provide feedback to the artists.

Coming April 7-9 are current Red Lodge artists Jocelyn Howard, a figure sculptor, and Perry Haas, a traditional potter producing functional pieces with an Asian influence. On campus April 9-11 are past Red Lodge artists, Alexis Gregg and Tanner Coleman, a married couple who collaborate on public sculpture through their business, AnT Sculpture and Design, LLC in Fayetteville, Ga.

All these artists gather Thursday, April 9, for a 7:30 p.m. public presentation in Basin Auditorium at the National Energy Center of Excellence.

Gregg and Coleman will speak on "Public Art: Process and Product" and provide images and background of their artwork in public spaces. Their presentation culminates with a proposal for a brickwork installation for the new courtyard behind BSC's new visual art, library and communications building at the corner of Schafer Street and Edwards Avenue.

The evening presentation also features a panel discussion involving Gregg, Coleman, Haas and Howard about the importance of artist residencies in their artistic development, and their common ground as past and present artists-in-residence at Red Lodge Clay Center.

Perry Haas holds a BFA in ceramics from Utah State University and has studied in China and Korea. He has exhibited widely and had work in international shows. He takes an historic approach to his common pottery forms and specializes in the wood firing process.

Jocelyn Howard works with doll and toy metaphors to sculpt figure collages that express the subject's inner experience. She addresses issues of conformity in society and makes images depicting the struggle that results by assuming a public veneer in relation to others. She graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2014.

Alexis Gregg and Tanner Coleman are ceramics graduates of the University of Georgia. Gregg also has a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from California State University, Long Beach. They spent a year in Red Lodge from 2012-13. Together, they create public art, playable art, sculpture and custom architectural tile work. Their initiative is to improve community spaces through socially relevant sculptures that invite human interaction. AnT has worked in six countries and completed 12 large-scale permanent works.

For more information about the artists and the residency, contact Brian Hushagen, associate professor of art, at brian.hushagen@bismarckstate.edu.

ArtsQuest began in 1998 as a project of the Arts and Communication Department to highlight the talent of BSC students and bring performances and presentations by guest artists to campus. For more information, visit bismarckstate.edu/artsquest.
 

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Bismarck State College, an innovative community college in Bismarck, N.D., offers high quality education, workforce training, and enrichment programs reaching local and global communities.