New York fall edition's ever-popular Young Talent Exhibition returns, this year presented by Teachers College, Columbia University ceramics program.
Returning to this year’s Affordable Art Fair New York fall edition is the ever-popular Young Talent Exhibition, a dedicated platform supporting emerging contemporary artists and curators. We’re super excited to announce that this year’s exhibition is presented by the esteemed Teachers College, Columbia University ceramics program, who will be creating a special exhibition to debut a collection of outstanding works by a select handful of talented ceramicists.
Read the blog to learn more about the program and featured artists presenting their work in just 3 weeks!
Teachers College, Columbia University is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of education in the United States, with notable alumni including Georgia and Ida O’Keeffe, Agnes Martin, Ad Reinhardt, Alma Thomas and Bill Daley. With such renowned former students as these, we’re delighted to champion the next wave of burgeoning ceramicists, plus give you a sneak peek at their works before they become available to the art-collecting community.
Talking of the program, Dr. Judith Burton, Professor of Art & Art Education says “The commitment to the arts as ‘normative practices’ shapes the work we do in teacher education at Columbia University Teachers College. For we believe that all children, adolescents and adults have the potential to construct, express and exchange ideas through visual materials; aesthetic encounters with materials open them to new worlds of knowledge, insight and, sometimes, beauty.”
Not only will you be able to see the outcome of art education at the highest level, you’ll be able to get to know exactly what it means to study ceramics and visual arts at Teachers College, Columbia University by attending our panel discussion. Join us on the Saturday of the fair for the talk which will explore what students and educators are trying to communicate through their work and how studying art education at an Ivy League institution informs their educational and artistic practices. The session will be moderated by Dr. Judith Burton, alongside instructor Thomas Lollar, and speakers including current and former students Aimee Ehrman, Laura Miller, Anita Sidler and Gabe Turow.
We spoke to Laura and Gabe to find out more …
Laura creates work spanning disciplines of sculpture, performance and installation using ceramic, egg tempera, and PowerPoint. She has been creating work in the Teachers College Ceramics Studio since 2012. MFA ’13 Columbia University, MSPPM ’11 Carnegie Mellon University, BFA ’08 Carnegie Mellon University.
Of her journey through ceramics and Teachers College, Laura says “I have always found myself to be a sculptural thinker. I started working with ceramics around age 5 and haven’t stopped since then. Working as an artist in a community studio with experienced artists and students of all ages, like at Teachers College, is a real joy. I love learning from the Teachers College Ph.D students like Aimee Ehrmann and Gabe Turow. On the other side, I always enjoy speaking with Intro to Ceramics students. There is no other place like the Teachers College studio in New York, and I am so honored each day to be able to make work there.”
“One of the biggest influences on my work is thinking about ceramics in time and history. I like thinking about both the time scale on which ceramics can exist and survive as a durable material, but also how ceramics have been used in visual and material cultures past and present as functional-ware, fine art, architecture, utility, and commerce. More recently in my work, I’ve been incorporating my painting practice and interest in patterns to the ceramic surface. I’ve been very engaged with detailed patterning, and the history behind those patterns.”
Gabe Turow, Ed.M., A.B.D. is a drummer, ceramist, and teachers finishing his doctorate in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Gabe told us how his drumming and ceramics go hand-in-hand “I took to throwing pretty quickly as I had been a drummer all my life. I began spending more and more time at the wheel and it began to feel like a drum set, which made me want to do it even more. I started to make bigger pieces and soon they started to take the form of drums.”
“Doing ceramics allowed me to achieve things that I never thought possible, it opened my mind to a new way of thinking and making. Ceramics helped me reconnect and feel more stable, which comes across in many of my pieces. Often times my pots have a cracked surface. I am interested in the way ceramics can be pulled apart, but still stay up — it’s a depiction of reality, really.”
“The Teachers College studio is extremely unique. Having the opportunity to sit with professors and students from the university, as well as members of the community makes for a truly educational experience. It’s one of my most interesting rooms on Columbia’s campus and I’m so glad that I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from such extraordinary individuals.”
This year’s Young Talent Exhibition is simply not to be missed! Snap up a ticket and head to the Teachers College, Columbia University Stand (A18, Level 2). Their panel discussion, on what studying at the Teacher College is like, will be held on Saturday, September 28 from 12:30-1:30pm.
Main Image:
The bisque shelf in the ceramics program at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Featured art from first to last:
A student glazing his ceramic work in the studio.
Dr. Judith Burton, Professor of Art & Art Education.
Timelapse of Anita Sidler creating Vessel 1.
Laura Miller, Installation IV, 2012.
Gabe Turow, ceramic drum.
Gabe Turrow’s ceramic urn.