Future Memories

Current and Former Resident Artists

Jan 9th - Feb 28th, 2021

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In Future Memories, artists explore the theme of transformation through works that consider the  effects of The Clay Studio Residency on their work and retrospective meditations. The work of fifty artists are represented, see the full text at the bottom of this page for the complete list of artists. This exhibition was originally intended for the 2020 NCECA Conference in Richmond, VA, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

For the exhibition Future Memories, 50 current and former Clay Studio Resident Artists created work that serves as the new repository for thoughts and feelings that evoke their time in the program. Each will reflect on what the Residency meant to them, what expectations for the future did they have at the time? The Clay Studio Resident Program is intended to be a springboard to the next phase of the artists' careers. It is, by definition, a transformative time. How does each Resident remember their expectations of the future when they joined the program?

Kevin Snipes, Julie York, Peter Barbor, Alex Ferrante, Lauren Mabry, Stephanie Kantor, Yehrim Lee, Pauliina Pollanen, Mimi McPartlan, Jinsoo Song, Matt Wilt, Roberta Massuch, Andrea Marquis, Nate Prouty, Shawn Spangler, Matthew Courtney, Sandi Pierantozzi, Neil Patterson, Lisa Naples, Linda Lopez, Kelcy Chase Folsom, Susan Beiner, Joanie Turbek, Robert Raphael, Hiroe Hanazono, Matt Ziemke, Ruth Easterbrook, Andy Shaw, Kari Radasch, Rain Harris, Linda Cordell, Paul Donnelly, Heather Mae Erickson, Jason Lee Starin, Amy Santoferraro, Peter Morgan, Kopal Seth, Nate Willever, Kensuke Yamada, Jacob Raeder, Bryan Czibesz, Candy Coated, and Melissa Mytty. Curated by Jennifer Zwilling.


Residency programs are ever changing organisms; each Resident has a singular experience during their tenure, each year brings a different array of returning and incoming Residents. In 2021 a major geographical change will forever alter The Clay Studio Resident Artist Program when the organization moves to a newly constructed edifice after 25 years in its current home. The current Resident Studios on the 4th floor of 137-139 N. 2nd Street in Old City Philadelphia will no longer house the artistic hopes and dreams of the 12 people chosen to embody the program each year. The memories and creative energy that have soaked into the structure will no longer be housed in that physical space.

For the exhibition Future Memories, we have asked current and former Clay Studio Resident Artists to create work that will serve as the new repository for thoughts and feelings that evoke their time in the program. Each will reflect on what the Residency meant to them, what expectations for the future did they have at the time? The Clay Studio Resident Program is intended to be a springboard to the next phase of the artists' careers. It is, by definition, a transformative time. How does each Resident remember their expectations of the future when they joined the program?

The work in the exhibition will explore the memories of being in that place of transformation and how the artists saw their path before they took their next journey. Clay is a medium that represents transformation by its very nature, it is inherent in its ability to change to a different state of matter through the application of an external energy source. The Resident Program represents the energy source,  and the work made for Future Memories will explore the past and present perceptions of the transformation.

After a period of intentional transformation, what residue remains in the physical space, and is it possible to create a new vessel for that emotional resonance? When you can't go home again, how do you carry the essential seeds of change with you? Art is often used to evoke memories, to make solid the most ephemeral feelings. Future Memories will be a thought -provoking look at the artistic transformations of these 20 artists during their Residency and how their perception of that transformation has changed over time. The feelings they represent will be universally understandable.

The Clay Studio Resident Artist Program is one of the most highly regarded ceramic residencies in the world. The Clay Studio staff is dedicated to providing high quality engagement and exposure for each of the Residents during their tenure and beyond.  We believe that these young artists represent some of the best ceramic art being made and that it deserves to be presented to the our community.

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Lunch & Learn

Artist Talk

Join Candy Coated, Roberta Massuch, Andrea Marquis, and Julie York in conversation as we discuss their life in art and their time at The Clay Studio.

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