Clay People – The Archie Bray Foundation welcomes new group of artists

The Archie Bray Foundation is one of the most prestigious ceramic arts facilities around, attracting artists from around the world who vie for a small number of coveted residencies each year.

But last week, it felt more like the beginning of summer camp as a crop of new residents unpacked and gingerly began working in their studio spaces.

Potter Kristin Pavelka had arrived a little earlier than most of the other residents and already looked at home in her clay-covered apron.

"It’s kind of hard to remember where I first heard about the Bray," said Pavelka, who teaches ceramics at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.

Pavelka says that she doesn’t get much time during the school year to focus on her own work — functional ceramics that explore everything from ’50s kitsch to Martha Stewart.

"I wanted to be in an environment where I could be around other energetic, clay-loving people," she said.

Along with Pavelka, the Bray is welcoming 11 other summer residents from places like Korea, Canada, Sweden and various cities throughout the U.S.

Out of roughly 140 applicants, the Bray chose only 21 artists to fill both short- and long-term residencies.

By EMILY DONAHOE – IR Staff Writer

Full Story: http://helenair.com/articles/2005/06/10/yourtime/d01061005_01.txt

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‘…a fine place to work’

By EMILY DONAHOE – IR Staff Writer

The new David and Ann Shaner Studio at the Archie Bray Foundation is bright and open, calm, comfortable, inviting – it just feels good.

Resident artists have already moved in and are busy working, talking and sharing ideas about clay.

"It has to be the most perfect place for a potter to work," said Ann Shaner during a recent interview.

The sight would no doubt have pleased Ann’s late husband, David, who was the Bray’s resident director from 1964-1970.

The tribute is wonderfully fitting when you consider that it was David who planted the seeds for the Bray’s resident artist program in its current form, which has given ceramic artists "a fine place to work" – as Archie famously asserted – for many years.

"I guess my favorite thought about it is that it guarantees that the Bray can go forward for many years," Ann said of the new studio.

That day, she and her daughter, Catherine, were working with a group to install the David Shaner Memorial Garden, just outside the Shaner Studio.

The garden, designed by Chip Clawson, was Ann’s idea.

"(David) had such an affinity for the environment," she said.

In work pants and a lavender turtleneck, Ann hopped right up on a dusty table to talk about her family and their history with the Bray.

"Well, he always felt that he wanted to spend all his time making pots," said Ann, explaining what prompted the young Shaner family – David, Ann and four children – to pick up and move to a brickyard in the middle of Montana.

Full Story: http://helenair.com/articles/2005/06/17/yourtime/d02061705_01.txt