The L.H. Horton Gallery presents the 20th annual Visions In Clay Exhibition and Awards Competition, the largest exhibition of ceramic works in the San Joaquin Valley.
The exhibition runs from Sept. 5 to Sept. 27, with an opening reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 5.
Admission to the Gallery exhibition and reception is free and open to the public.
Founded by the San Joaquin Potters Guild in 2002, Visions In Clay was turned over to the Horton Gallery in 2010. The exceptional show of craftsmanship and diverse style has been featured several times in the national magazine Ceramics Monthly.
Sarah Millfelt, executive director of Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is this year’s guest juror. She selected the works and awards for the exhibition. The selection was based on quality of craftsmanship, unique content and form, and technical skill.
This year’s exhibit features 57 works by 51 artists from around the country, including local artists Joe Mariscal, retired Delta College ceramics professor; Kayla King, 2017 Delta College graduate and 2019 San Francisco State graduate; and Tricia Hand from Tracy.
Many thanks to our award sponsors Laguna Clay and San Joaquin Potters Guild. To view the exhibition online and link to the artists’ websites, visit gallery.deltacollege.edu and go to Current Exhibitions. (Pictured at left: "Sphere #2" by retired Delta College Professor Joe Mariscal.)
Exhibition Juror Sarah Millfelt was born to act, yet never bought her Greyhound ticket to Hollywood. Instead, she opted to pursue studies at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, where she earned her BFA in ceramics and photography. After 10 years of managing a casual wedding photography business, while simultaneously climbing the ranks within Northern Clay Center as a staff member in various capacities, Sarah became the Center’s youngest executive director in October of 2011. Part firefighter, fisherwoman, farmer, and Wizard of Oz, most day’s you’ll find her fighting office fires, reeling in grants, methodically growing support for the ceramic arts and cultivating the community’s love of clay, and ensuring the organization maintains its brains, heart, and courage, as well as its reputation for excellence, diversity, and nimbleness in response to the world around it. Sarah was the first non-maker to be celebrated in a social media campaign last year when #potsinaction through their #PIAbadasswomen campaign said of her, “Sarah has catapulted it [Northern Clay Center] to national prominence through her vision, charm, and ability to simply make things happen.”
In addition to her service to the ceramics community, she attempts to feed her love of all things Italian through annual visits to what she believes is her mother land, although ancestry.com confirms she may only possess small percentages of Italian make-up. Sarah is a mother to two, talented and beautiful boys, ages 13 & 15; she’s married to a local potter and professor, Mike Helke; she’s an obsessive gardener. When she’s not advocating on behalf of the ceramic arts or digging in the dirt, she can be found at Farrell’s Fitness, kickboxing daily at 5 am; reading cake baking books as feverishly as one would read romance novels; or in her kitchen baking up a storm and practicing her English accent, in preparation for potential inclusion on the BBC’s Great British Bake Off.
Visions In Clay Awards
Kazuma Sambe, Best of Show $800
Lauren Clay, 2nd Place $600
James Klueg, 3rd Place $400
Ryan Schulz, San Joaquin Potters Guild Founders Award $300
Dan Molyneux, Artist Classroom Demonstration Award $400
2019 EXHIBITING ARTISTS
Joe Mariscal Stockton, California
Scott McClellan Columbia, Missouri
Brian Molanphy Dallas, Texas
Dan Molyneux Weaverville, California
Vince Montague Cloverdale, California
Kevin Myers Santa Ana, California
Kate Nelson Austin, Texas
Cathi Newlin Portland, Oregon
Nhien Nguyen Fremont, California
Rick Nickel Norfolk, Virginia
Brent Pafford Eugene, Oregon
Brian Peshek Granada Hills, California
Stephanie Reyes La Mesa, New Mexico
Kazuma Sambe Tempe, Arizona
Ryan Schulz Gainesville, Florida
Leslie Plato Smith Oakland, California
Greg Stahly Mount Pleasant, Missouri
Meghan Sullivan Appleton, Wisconsin
Cheryl Tall Carlsbad, California
John Tobin Chesapeake, Virginia
Derek Walter Chicago, Illinois
Barbara Weidell Luther, Oklahoma
Stephanie Wilhelm Micanopy, Florida
Dan Woodard (Redwood City, California)
Denise Woodward-Detrich Wahalla, South Carolina
Barbara Andio- Stevenson San Rafael, California
Kenneth Baskin Lake Charles, Louisiana
Brad Blair Parkton, Maryland
Shannon Blakey Columbia, Missouri
Ariel Bowman Flower Mound, Texas
Elaine Buss Kansas City, Missouri
Monique Castiaux San Francisco, California
Lauren Clay Huntsville, Texas
David Collins Temple, Georgia
Jay Dougan Durango, Colorado
Mari Emori Hayward, California
Linda S. Fitz Gibbon Woodland, California
Sandy Frank Sabastopol, California
Ianna Frisby Sacramento, California
Guillermo Guardia Lafayette, Louisiana
Vicki Gunter Oakland, California
Tricia Hand Tracy, California
Julianne Harvey Albuquerque, New Mexico
Berit Hines Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Pancho Jimenéz Campbell, California
Heather Kaplan El Paso, Texas
G.V. Kelley Gainesville, Florida
Douglas Kenney La Mesa, California
Kayla King Stockton, California
James Klueg Duluth, Minnesota
Chris Leonard McAllen, Texas