by Ted Neal

This past year, students and faculty in the Art Department's ceramics area participated in one of the largest national conferences for the ceramics arts.  The conference, sponsored annually by the National Council for the Education of the Ceramic Arts, was held in Louisville, Kentucky. The close proximity of the conference provided Ball State with a unique opportunity to showcase its ceramics program in a venue that was seen by thousands of attendees.  Participants were also provided access to three days of programming including, lectures, panels, discussion groups, exhibitions and artist demonstrations.

The NCECA conference is the largest conference of its type nationally and internationally.  In recent years, conference attendance has reached 6,000 attendees representing educators, potters, clay artists, students and industry professionals from around the world.  Each year the conference is held in a different large city.  Ball State faculty and students were represented in a variety of venues at the Louisville conference.

Ball State faculty members and graduate students participated in a large group exhibition of educational institutions located near the conference entitled "Emerging Excellence." Of the many programs that might have qualified, Ball State was one of only nine selected to participate in the exhibit, which took place at the Mellwood Art Center in Louisville and drew thousands of visitors. 

Professor Ted Neal curated two exhibitions for the conference.  The first, "Mineralogy and Metallurgy: The Multimedia Ceramic Vessel," took place at Gallery X on the University of Louisville campus.  The show featured the work of nine contemporary ceramic artists who use mixed media in their interpretation of the ceramic vessel.  The second exhibition, "Contrast: Ceramic Explorations in Black and White" was held on the BSU campus in the Atrium Gallery. The show presented the work of BSU faculty and 10 other national artists and educators.

In addition to participating in exhibitions, BSU was also involved as a non-profit vendor in the conference center exhibition hall. Promotional materials and information about Ball State and the art  department was distributed to hundreds of people. Sponsorship for the conference was provided by The College of Fine Arts, the Department of Art, the BSU Ceramics Guild, and faculty and students of the program.