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"Rhythm and Ritual" 

June 3-16, 2024

Resident Faculty: Peter Christian Johnson
Visiting Artists: David Hicks & Sue Tirrell

This year’s session explores how the steady rhythm of a dedicated studio practice can lead to discovery.  Both visiting artists will share how their daily rituals influence the objects they create. Whether through making functional pottery or sculptural work participants will be encouraged to find their own rhythm of discovery over the 2 week session. During those two weeks they will be able to explore new techniques, share ideas with one another, and receive mentorship from the resident faculty and visiting artists.

Non-credit Tuition Option - $1,100

Undergraduate and Graduate Credit: Undergraduate (3 credits); Graduate (3-4 credits). Standard tuition rates apply. More info available on admissions page (link below).

Apply to KBAI 

About the Artists

David Hicks
Visiting Artist

David Hicks  is an artist and educator who lives and works in his hometown of Visalia, California. Hicks has received solo exhibitions with Diane Rosenstein Gallery, Los Angeles; Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami; and Edward Cella Art & Architecture, West Hollywood, CA. His work is in the collections of  the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA), Pomona, CA; Arizona State University Museum, Tempe; Boise Museum of Art, Idaho; and the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies Collection in Washington, DC, among others. David Hicks was included  in Wayfinding, Craft Contemporary’s Third Clay Biennial in Los Angeles and was recently exibited in Think Pinker, curated by Beth Rudin DeWoody, at GAVLAK Los Angeles as well as  More Clay: The Power of Repetition, curated by Rebecca Cross, at the American University Museum, Washington, D.C. (2022).

He received a BFA in Ceramic Arts from California State University Long Beach (2003) and an MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University, New York (2006).  His work is in the collections of  the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA), Pomona, CA; Arizona State University Museum, Tempe; Boise Museum of Art, Idaho; and the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies Collection in Washington, DC, among others.  

Sue Tirrell
Visiting Artist

Sue Tirrell was born and raised in Red Lodge, Montana; a small ranching and tourist community on the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park. She received an AA from Cottey College in Nevada, MO in 1995 and a BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1997.  Her functional and sculptural work draws inspiration from her life-long experiences in Montana and the West, her fascination with animals and interest in folk art, vintage kitsch, western art and culture.  Her work has been exhibited widely in the United States, as well as Canada and Australia.  She has been a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT; California State University, Chico; and the Custer County Art & Heritage Center in Miles City, MT.  She has logged hundreds of hours teaching ceramics and multi-media workshops across the US and Canada in community art centers, college classrooms, retirement homes and one-room schoolhouses.  Sue makes her home and studio on the banks of the Yellowstone River in Montana’s Paradise Valley.

Peter Christian Johnson
Resident Faculty

Peter Christian Johnson is currently Associate Professor of Art at Â鶹¾«Ñ¡ after serving more than decade as the head of the ceramics department at Eastern Oregon University. He has received the Oregon Arts Commission’s Individual Artist Fellowship, is a three-time winner of the Ohio Arts Council’s Individual Artist Excellence Award, and was a Matsutani Fellow at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts.  He was awarded first place in the 2018 Zanesville Prize for Contemporary Ceramics and was recently part of the 61^st Faenza Prize in Italy. He exhibited in the 2017 and 2019 Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale along with exhibitions in Canada, Australia, China, Italy, Korea, and throughout the United States. His work has been published in numerous publications including the recent Ceramique; 90 Artistes Contemporains by Pyramid Publishing and in the book Contemporary Ceramic Art, published by Thames and Hudson in 2020.

Header Images: (Left) Detail of "Frumentum," 2023, Glazed ceramic, 48 x 30 x 30 in., (Center) Detail of "Queen Brush," 2023, 50 x 32 x 30 in., by David Hicks

(Right) Detail of "Black Unicorn Dinner Plate," Porcelain with Underglaze Sgraffito Design, 10" x 10" x 1.5", 2023 by Sue Tirell