The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts organizes an annual series of ceramic events with exhibitions, a symposium and workshops led by prominent artists.
The San Angelo North American Ceramic Competition, hosted every two years, is open to artists residing in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Clay or ceramic artworks, both functional and sculptural, are eligible for submission. Submissions must have been completed within the last two years.
In a small focus exhibit within the Competition exhibition, the museum features the work of one distinguished guest artist, who also conducts a day-long demonstration workshop the day after the exhibition opening.
In non-Competition years, the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts hosts the Ceramic Invitational Exhibition, featuring the work of established and emerging ceramic artists selected by the museum.
The San Angelo Ceramic Symposium, hosted by Angelo State University, is an annual event that is open to ASU students, faculty, and the public. It takes place the day of the exhibition opening and is organized in collaboration with the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.
This April 23 - 27, 2025, enjoy an entire weekend of exhibitions, parties, talks, workshops, and activities for all ages!
San Angelo Ceramic Invitational Exhibition and Symposium
April 23 - 27, 2025
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Hosted By: San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts Angelo State University The Mayer Museum The Chicken Farm Art Center The Concho Clay Studio |
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Sponsors: San Angelo Museum Endowment for Ceramic Events John Williams Texas Commission on the Arts |
Supporting Participants: Downtown San Angelo, Inc. San Angelo Convention and Visitors Bureau Art in Uncommon Places
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April 23 – Wednesday
- Opening Reception 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Mayer Museum (on the campus of Angelo State University, 2501 W Ave. N)
Curiosity in Motion: The Intersection of Art and Science and Database: Crafting the Code
Exhibits feature the works of Ariel Bowman (together with works from Dr. Terry Maxwell and the collection of the ASU Natural History Collection); and Eliza Au and Bri Murphy
April 24 - Thursday
- Ceramic Workshop with Eliza Au and Bri Murphy 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Angelo State University Ceramics Facility (2501 W Ave. N)
- Chicken Farm Studios Open 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
2505 Martin Luther King Dr.
- Wheel Throwing and Raku Firing Workshop 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
($25.00 for students; $35.00 regular admission)
Chicken Farm Art Center
Workshop continues Friday and Saturday (see Workshops section for details)
**Usually, this workshop is conducted by Randy Brodnax, but due to unexpected circumstances, he will not be able to be here. Gary Kosmas will teach the wheel-throwing portions on Thursday and Friday, and Kassie Dilworth will conduct the raku firing portion on Saturday. See “Workshops” below for details.
April 25 - Friday
- Mayer Museum Open 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
- Chicken Farm Studios Open 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
- 40th Annual Ceramic Symposium 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Angelo State University, Carr Education-Fine Arts Building Room 101
Panelists: Ruth Wilson, Ariel Bowman, Eliza Au, and Bri Murphy
- Reception during Symposium intermission
Exhibit of works by ASU Ceramics Students in the 193 Gallery, Carr Education-Fine Arts Building
- Exhibit Opening 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, 1 Love Street
2025 Ceramic Invitational Exhibition
- Exhibit Opening 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Gallery Verde, 417 South Oakes Street
Six Pack Ceramics, hosted by the Art Spirit Collective
April 26 – Saturday
- All-Day Ceramic Workshop with Ruth Wilson 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
($25.00 for students; $45.00 regular admission)
Chicken Farm Art Center
- San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts Open 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
(See samfa.org for admission prices)
- Gallery Verde Open 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
- Mayer Museum Open 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
- Chicken Farm Studios Open 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
- Texas Barbecue Dinner and Dance 6:00 pm
($20 per person)
Chicken Farm Art Center
The public is invited to watch the raku firing portion of the Randy Brodnax workshop following the dinner and dance.
April 27 – Sunday
- San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts Open 1:00 pm– 4:00 pm
(See samfa.org for admission prices. Walk-Talk below is free)
- Gallery Walk-Talk with Gary Kosmas 1:00 pm
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, 3rd floor galleries
- Gallery Verde Open 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
WORKSHOPS
Thursday morning, April 24, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, Eliza Au and Bri Murphy will conduct a workshop at the Angelo State University Ceramics Facility (2501 W Ave. N). There is no charge and the public is invited to attend.
Thursday afternoon, April 24, from 1:00 pm until 6:00 pm Gary Kosmas will help participants achieve greater results from the potter’s wheel, concentrating on how to throw larger and thinner with less effort. The workshop will also explore safe working practices so participants can have a long and injury-free career with clay through awareness and techniques that reduce possible long term physical problems. The work continues Friday as time allows, and then Saturday afternoon and evening, Kassie Dilworth will lead participants in raku firing, from 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm and after dinner.
$25 for students; $35 regular admission; Participants are encouraged to bring bisque work to glaze and fire, but bisque pots will also be available to purchase. It is free for non-participants to watch the raku firing on Saturday.
Saturday, April 26, Invited Artist Ruth Wilson will conduct a day-long demonstration workshop, discussing and demonstrating her techniques, materials, and processes.
Lunch is up to you, so plan to bring a sack lunch or patronize one of many local restaurants.
Register for workshops online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/san-angelo-museum-of-fine-arts-56823347443
You can also pay at the door.
2025 CERAMIC INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION
Featuring Ruth Wilson
Ruth Hart Wilson lives in Brenham, Texas. She received a master’s degree in Art Education from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, and taught high school and junior high school for many years. In 1995, she got married and retired from teaching to pursue art full time. She had been a painter all her artistic career, but when she studied ceramics with Roy Hanscom, she fell in love with clay. She is known for her whimsical, hand-built ceramic characters, each one with a story. “As a child I loved to play ‘pretend,’ Ruth says. “My sister and I dressed up in our elegant dresses, jewelry, and hats (mom’s old clothes) and went into another world.” Each one of her characters inhabits its own enchanting world, inviting viewers into a new, fascinating, and often humorous, place. Two of her creations, Fu Wang and Natasha F. Whittage, have been charming visitors to the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts since 2002, as part of the museum’s Permanent Collection.
Narrative Works from the Rosenfield Collection
Louise Rosenfield (who juried the 25th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition in 2024) and her husband David have curated a collection of contemporary, functional ceramic art, comprised of over 4,000 objects. The Rosenfields also have established an online resource of this collection (rosenfieldcollection.com) for scholars or others looking for inspiration, to see and appropriate images of the artworks.
To accompany the Ruth Wilson exhibit, a selection of around 100 items from the Rosenfield Collection, ranging from cups to teapots to salt and pepper shakers, will be on display at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Each of these works has a narrative theme—it has been invested by its artist with a story to tell, whether through its form or its decorative surface or words written directly on the ceramic.
Exhibits remain on display through July 13, 2025.
40th ANNUAL SAN ANGELO CERAMIC SYMPOSIUM
April 25, 2025 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Panelists: Ruth Wilson, Ariel Bowman, Eliza Au, and Bri Murphy
The four panelists will begin the symposium with opening statements followed by an intermission and refreshments. Following the intermission, the symposium will continue with a dialogue between the audience and the panel, moderated by Hayun Surl of the Angelo State Art Department.
Angelo State University will host the symposium at the Robert and Nona Carr Education-Fine Arts Building in Room 101. The symposium is offered at no charge and the public is invited to attend.
[showing parking in lot 42A]
Call the San Angelo Convention and Visitors Bureau at 325-653-1206 for hotel accommodations and information. Identify yourself with the Ceramics Symposium and Exhibition.
PANELISTS AND PRESENTERS
Eliza Au
Symposium Panelist and Workshop Presenter
Eliza Au is an artist working in clay using digital fabrication techniques. She earned her MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and her BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Au has shown her work nationally and internationally and has held several prestigious residencies. In 2020, she received an Award of Excellence during the Chrysalis Competition held by the James Renwick Alliance. Au’s work is in several permanent collections including the Everson Museum of Art, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Au is now an Assistant Professor of Ceramics at the University of North Texas.
Ariel Bowman
Symposium Panelist and Workshop Presenter (for SAISD high school students)
Ariel Bowman was raised in Dallas, Texas where her parents are both artists. Growing up, she spent a lot of time outside with animals. The undeveloped woodlands that surrounded her childhood home inspired her to create art that focused on the natural world. As a sculptor, Bowman works in clay using a variety of mixed media techniques. She earned her BFA degree in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2011, and an MFA degree from the University of Florida in 2018. She has studied abroad at the International Ceramics Studio in Hungary and was awarded the Regina K. Brown NCECA undergraduate and graduate fellowships. Bowman has been an artist in residence at the Armory Art Center and her work has been collected by the Belger Arts Center, the Florida Museum of Natural History, and the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.
Randy Brodnax
Workshop Presenter
Randy Brodnax is a life-long potter and educator from Dallas, Texas. A Louisiana native who has retained much of the Cajun joie de vivre with which he was raised, Randy has spent a career building bridges among clay artists of all levels of experience. In workshops, Randy entertains as he shares his knowledge with participants, and helps individuals seeking a refined focus, new direction, or simply camaraderie among clay artists.
Bri Murphy
Symposium Panelist and Workshop Presenter
Bri Murphy is an interdisciplinary artist, who combines digital technologies such as 3D printing with more traditional materials, influenced by their background in ceramics. Murphy’s work explores notions of American identity through the deconstruction of its mythologies – from busts of the Founding Fathers to treasured prose such as the Declaration of Independence. Murphy holds an MFA in Ceramics from Ohio University as well as bachelor’s degrees in Ceramics and Art Education from SUNY New Paltz. Murphy is currently based in Greeley, CO and is an Assistant Professor of Sculpture + Digital Fabrication at the University of Northern Colorado.
Click here to see the 2024 online gallery
The learn more about Past Ceramic Competitions click HERE.
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