Linda Doherty (left) and Sharon Reay (right) both honoured for their contributions to ceramics and the Shadbolt Centre.

On Friday, March 20, the NWCF hosted the keynote speaker for the Canadian Clay Symposium, which was held the following day at the Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby. Friday’s event took place before a large crowd at the Reliance Theatre at Emily Carr University and featured Jesse Birch, curator of the Nanaimo Art Gallery on Vancouver Island. The evening was hosted by Brendan Tang and included a packed agenda. It was opened by an Indigenous singer, who performed and explained three beautiful songs. This was followed by a memorial tribute to the many important potters we have lost over the preceding three years since the previous symposium. Linda Doherty and Sharon Reay, two artists who have contributed immeasurably to our ceramics community and the Shadbolt were recognized with a special award.

Debra Sloan discusses the important work done by the NWCF and our latest award.

Robin and Eden DuPont, who have worked very hard to keep open the important craft institution of the Kootenay School of the Arts at Selkirk College in Nelson presented a short and hopeful talk about the state of negotiations with the city. Numerous letters of support and donations from individuals and the town have contributed to the optimism that they will be successful.

Julie York, first recipient of the Sally Michener Award for excellent work in sculptural ceramics.

Our president, Debra Sloan, discussed the donors who have helped the NWCF, our work, and our awards. Our latest award honouring Sally Michener recognizes a ceramic artist whose primary practice engages with sculpture. Former board member and instructor at ECUAD, Julie York, has been awarded the first of these awards, which is fitting, as Sally had been a mentor and supporter of Julie’s extraordinary work.

Jesse Birch presents the keynote address, “Where to Pots Belong?” On screen–Wayne Ngan.

The keynote address Where do Pots Belong: on Exhibiting Useful Ceramics by Jesse Birch was, in the opinion of Debra, one of the best ever delivered at the symposium. He has researched the history of BC ceramics intensively, especially that relating to the Leach tradition. His talk covered the importance of Doris Shadbolt, curator at the VAG, and the support she gave to BC ceramics. For nearly an hour, he traced the importance of artists like Wayne Ngan, the rise and slow falling away of interest in ceramics in BC through trends towards conceptual and dematerialized practices, as well as the more recent positive re-evaluation of craft and ceramics that is taking place now.

The symposium the next day was sold-out, with attendees coming from as far away as the prairies and Haida Gwaii. The presentations were enjoyed by all, and the event was followed by a dinner catered by Nobel Egg Catering run by fellow ceramicist Nicole Guillemin. The dinner gave the presenters and board members of the various groups that had sponsored the symposium a chance to relax, talk over the event, and enjoy the lovely evening. As Debra Sloan commented, “ It was a classic and community-building clay social.”

*The details of this report are courtesy of Debra Sloan.

TPT 2025 attendees. At front, left to right, Dave Carlin, John David Lawrence, and Frank Turco

The North West Ceramics Foundation held their award ceremony, . . . That Pottery Thing. . . 2025, on December 4, at the Mayer Studio, 1000 Parker St, in Vancouver. Refreshments were provided by Noble Egg Catering run by fellow ceramicist Nicole Guillemin and featured a wide range of tasty finger food. Prosecco, wine, and beer were also available. Attendees included previous award-winners, donors, curators, and supporters. All were present to celebrate recipients of the NWCF Mayer Wosk Award of Excellence and two new awards, the Tam Irving Honorary Award of Recognition (“The Tam”) and the Celia Rice-Jones Legacy Award  (“The Celia”). In addition to snacks and awards, attendees were privy to a silent auction of beautiful works by some of BC’s best ceramic artists, including works by the award recipients. A small table of mugs, plates, and decorative items from the collection of Sally Michener offered visitors inexpensive souvenirs of this beloved former teacher and artist.

NWCF president Debra Sloan introduces the evening

NWCF president Debra Sloan started off the evening greeting visitors and outlining activities undertaken by the Foundation over the past several years, including support for the newly funded ceramic residency at the UBC Museum of Anthropology, the Speakers Series, bursaries, and scholarships awarded to post-secondary students. Board member Martin Peters introduced two new awards and asked Keith Rice-Jones, the initiator of the Celia award, to speak a little about his wife for whom the award is named. Martin then introduced the awardee, Alan Burgess, who presented a well-illustrated talk detailing his life and work in clay. His career began in Britain, surprisingly, as a student of Celia among others at the Camberwell School of Art in London, and continued half a world away on the coast of British Columbia. Martin then asked Tam Irving, for whom the Tam is named, to introduce the awardee D’Arcy Margesson, whose long career in ceramics includes developing a popular  earthenware clay body and teaching the complications of glaze chemistry to generations of students. D’Arcy also made a short presentation that featured beautiful flowers he grows in combination with his lovely pots.

Board member Ying-Yueh Chuang introduced the NWCF Mayer Wosk Award, which this year was presented to two outstanding artists, Amelia Butcher and Wei Cheng. Both Amelia and Wei presented short talks about their practices, which emphasized their engagement with the material in poetic and highly personal ways. The evening concluded with the closing of the silent auction and conversation among the happy and satisfied guests.

Award winners left to right: Alan Burgess, Wei Cheng, Amelia Butcher, Debra Sloan (NWCF), Ying-Yueh Chuang (NWCF), and D’Arcy Margesson

It is a great privilege to recognize and celebrate the wonderful artists whose extensive and diverse practices contribute so fruitfully to the excellence of ceramics in our province. We are forever grateful to our donors and supporters who make this important work possible.

The North West Ceramics Foundation is very pleased to have supported the publishing of a new monograph written by Debra Evelyn Sloan, Bill Rennie: His Realms and Havens: Architectural Marvels Realized in Clay. Bill Rennie (1953 – 2015) was one of Vancouver’s most charismatic ceramic artists, and it is an important part of the NWCF mandate to support publications addressing the history and culture of BC Ceramics.

Sloan addresses a number of aspects of Rennie’s life and practice including his growing up in Surrey, his activism, drawings, and unique architectural fantasies. Her work draws on personal memories—she first met the artist when both were students at the Vancouver School of Art in 1979. Bill was, if anything, unconventional in his practice, and much of his treasured legacy was scattered and poorly recorded. Along with friends and supporters including Donna Hagerman, his sister Marigrace Rennie, Jeannie Mah, Sally Michener, John David Lawrence, and others, Sloan collected, organized, and documented his amazing archive of letters, drawings, proposals, reminisces, diary entries—all written in his distinctive, block-letter style–and surviving works.

What emerges with this book is a compelling story of a gifted if often contrarian artist who was deeply engaged with the artistic and social issues of his day. His work was influenced by popular art movements including Funk and Dada, and by social issues such as AIDS/gay rights, the live/work studio and housing movement, gentrification, and funding for the arts in Canada.

His intricate architectural works were often accompanied by elaborate, narrated drawings, which give insight into his process. He built his structures using combinations of press-moulding, sprigs, hand-forming, carving, and assembling. He often accepted, even welcomed, collapse and distortion from the action of the kiln through multiple firings. Although many of his early works paid close attention to actual historical structures, his mature work blossomed with fantasy and his remarkable imagination. Numerous images provide examples of his work, with many works newly photographed by his long-time friend Donna Hagerman.

Drawing on archives, personal memories, historical and contemporary photographs, and the artist’s writings, Bill Rennie: His Realms and Havens: Architectural Marvels Realized in Clay provides an essential guide to a unique, unconventional, and deeply creative maker of masterful ceramic sculpture. Debra Sloan’s long experience as a recorder of BC ceramics history, her personal knowledge of the artist, and her clear passion for her subject make this a book that will carry far into the future.

Bill Rennie: His Realms and Havens: Architectural Marvels Realized in Clay, by Debra Evelyn Sloan, is published by Sassamatt Publications, and available through Amazon.