‘Celebrating Clay’ marks 40 years for area studio
‘Celebrating Clay’ marks 40 years for Chester Springs Studio
Chester Springs Studio was started as a separate entity in 1978.
Chester Springs Studio will be celebrating its 40th anniversary of turning clay into art with Celebrating Clay now through Oct. 7.
There is a long history of art in the village of Historic Yellow Springs, of which the studio is now a part, even before the founding of the studio in 1978. From 1916 to 1952, the village served as the home of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Country School. In the 1970s, as the Yellow Springs Art Center, summer art classes were held where students could learn from a practicing potter, painter, printmaker, glassblower and weaver. “The idea behind this was the students worked in a variety of media,” said Lindsay Brinton, one of the founding directors of the studio and a current volunteer.
According to Brinton, Chester Springs Studio was started as a separate entity in 1978, although they merged with Historic Yellow Springs in 2007. Its mission is to support visual artists and partner them with students of all ages through art classes, workshops, exhibitions and residencies.
Today, the artists work with close to 1,000 youth and adults each year. In addition to ceramics, the studio also offers classes in drawing, painting and sculpture.
Celebrating Clay is the first big ceramics show since the early 2000s, Brinton explained.
Susan Bankhert and Matt Wren are curators for the show. There will be 33 artists and each is able to bring up to 10 pieces, although Bankert said that a lot of artists are bringing about five pieces each. Visitors can expect
to see about 200 different works.
Local and regional artists were invited to the show. “This year, we decided to have a smaller show and chose local potters and ceramicists that have been affiliated with the studio at one time,” said Bankert, who teaches classes at the studio. They also reached out to Philadelphia artists to get them to come out to Chester Springs.
“It’s going to be really varied,” Bankert said in describing the styles of work that visitors will see. “There will be a combination of sculptural work and functional pottery, different firing temperatures, different glazes. Everything will be handmade. We’re doing this for the students, to get them exposed to different types of ceramics.”
Matt Wren is the studio supervisor. The studio uses electric, gas raku and wood-fire kilns. He explained the difference between electric and woodfired.
“In an electric kiln heat is generated from a current going through coils like in an oven. The atmosphere is free from the ash and flame of a wood kiln, it’s also full of oxygen the whole time. When we fire the wood kiln we reduce or starve the kiln of oxygen at certain times in order to achieve different colorations in the clay and glazes. Burning wood produces ash which can be stirred up in the firebox and distributed on the shoulders, rims, and inside pots. The ash melts and forms a glaze at Cone 10 (or 2350 F). The wood kiln is full of flames throughout the firing, licking over the pots for an extended period of time. The flame leaves marks or flashes of color on the raw, unglazed surfaces of the clay, called flame impingement. The longer the firing the more ash you can pile on, and more intense flashing can occur. Colors vary from gray, orange, red, brown, blue, purple depending on your firing process and materials used in the clay body.”
All the work in display will be for sale. Even those who visit on the last day of the event will be able to see all the pieces as they must stay on view through the event.
“I feel like there’s a lot of people who have worked in clay — in high school or junior high school — and (the show) could really renew an interest for them to come to the show and see all the work that is being done locally,” said Bankert.