SFCC Art & Design News – Fall 2024

On-Campus Events & News | Off-campus Events & News | SFCC Artist Spotlight: Esther Ann Smith

By Shane Tolbert, Academic Director of Art & Design

We are now in Week 5 of the Fall Semester, and I can report that Zozobra weekend has come and gone, and we are all now free of our Gloomies. The sight of sushi trays and cookie platters passing by my office means our Visual Arts Gallery is firing on all cylinders and welcoming guests with our Fall opener, Dream Big! The Art of George Rodrigue. I’m pleased to report that the reception was well-attended and would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Nicholas Wernicki and Continuing Education for bringing us this exhibition.

Arts & Design loves interdepartmental collaboration. Speaking of collaboration, our next major event was the 3rd Annual Open House in conjunction with IAIA, organized by Linda Cassel, Director of Art on Campus, was an absolute success with community attendance surging over 600 in total. This is sure to create a buzz on campus with an estimated 600 area high school students expected to attend as well as members from the community. The buzz on campus was palpable with live demonstrations in wet plate photography, clay wheel throwing, and inflatable steel forms just to name a few. I am pleased to share that our garage sale fundraiser brought in over $1,000 this year and will directly fund the student awards for our Regional High School Juried Art Show which opens October 24. Special thanks to everyone involved as well as Linda for your vision!  

I am thrilled to share that have 3 new Full Time Faculty in Art & Design this Fall. Elizabeth Hunt, Program Head of Ceramics. Sage Paisner, Program Head of Photography. Jared Weiss, Program Head of Drawing & Painting. Congratulations to you all and it’s an honor to call you my colleagues. 

Below you will find a record of our Fall Events and News as well as an installment of our Artist Spotlight series with a conversation between Ceramics Technician, Erik Gellert, and SFCC Ceramics alumni, Esther Ann Smith.

Please enjoy and I hope you will consider joining us for the many events to come this semester!

Fall Semester On-Campus Events & News:

• -New- Takach Lithography Press for Printmaking thanks to donations from community members, Marc Lawrence and Thomas Neff. Thank you for making an impact!
• GRS Engraving System for Jewelry/Metals thanks to donation from community member, Sandy Thorrell. Thank you for making an impact!
• Tools, books, and supplies for Jewelry/Metals thanks to donation from community members, Susan Dilger and Carol Huntington. Thank you for making an impact!
• 9/12, Dean’s Gallery, 2-4 p.m. reception for Collective Glass, a group exhibition of Patrick Morrisey’s students from SFCC, IAIA and Prairie Dog Glass. Exhibition runs through October 4^th.

• 9/5 – 10/24, SANCTUARY, Ripple Effect Gallery (723D)
• 9/9 – 12/2, Figure Drawing Club, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.,  meets every Monday, Rm 718, $30 fee for the semester
• 9/16 – 10/4, Fall Printmaking Exhibit, Dean’s Gallery
• 9/19, SFCC-IAIA OPEN HOUSE, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., please join us for an active day and explore the many offerings of SFCC.
• 9/26, CalArts Site Visit, Rm 711, 12-1 p.m., presentation followed by portfolio review.
• 10/4, Site Santa Fe Critique Group – Orientation, Rm 712 at 3 p.m.

• 10/7 – 10/27, Ceramics Exhibition, Dean’s Gallery
• 10/24, 3rd Annual Regional High School Juried Art Show and Exhibition, 5–7 p.m.
• 10/28 –11/17, Fine Woodworking Exhibition, Dean’s Gallery
• 11/7–10, New Mexico Art Educators Association, Annual Conference
• 11/18 – 12/6, Major Projects group exhibition, Dean’s Gallery
• 11/20-21, SFCC Clay Club Sale, Main Hallway, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. both days

Fall Semester Off-Campus Events & News:

• Drawing & Painting Instructor, Del Curfman (Crow), enjoyed a successful Indian Market in August and was a featured Painter in SWAIA Magazine.

• Ceramics Technician, Erik Gellert: Creating Space, solo exhibition at Wright Contemporary Gallery, Taos through Sept. 20

• Photography Program Head, Sage Paisner: Larry McNeil’s Ravent Dreamt About Light at Foto Forum through October 18
  
• Sculpture Alumni, Hisa Ota: Light Folds, a solo exhibition at Ve Lo Más Gallery, Santa Fe, reception 5–7 p.m. on September 13
  
• Printmaking Instructor, Mike Kimball: “Quick Cut” event at Hecho a Mano gallery on Palace Ave. from 6-8 p.m., Saturday Sept. 14. Selected relief printmakers will be carving and printing relief prints on the spot for sale to the public. Tumbleroot Brewery will be serving a cash bar.
  
• Photography Instructor, Brian Edwards: Santa Fe Studio Tour, 9/21-22 & 9/28-29, Studio 47
  
• Printmaking Instructor Jennifer Lynch – Atlanta Art Fair w/ Richard Levy Gallery of Albuquerque, Oct. 3–6

• Ceramics Instructor, Ralph Scala: Tabula Rasa, a group exhibition at Duende Gallery, Galisteo, reception Oct. 5, 4–8 p.m.

• Drawing & Painting Instructor, Sudeshna Sengupta:  color-etching and lithographic prints are currently being shown in a landmark art exhibition titled Indian Women Printmakers at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India, highlighting important contributions of Indian women to the field of printmaking.

• Fine Woodworking Program Head, Doug Jones: Exhibition of new furniture and sculptural objects at Tierra Mar Gallery, 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe opens October 19. The opening coincides with the Canyon Road Paint and Sculpt Out (10-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024) and features the work of Scout Dunbar, a Tucson-based visual artist.

• Printmaking Instructor, Steve Campbell: The Tyranny of Small Things, a solo exhibition at Form & Concept Gallery, reception Oct. 25, 5 -7 p.m.

• Academic Director, Shane Tolbert: Self Portrait, a work on paper, has been acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

• Sculpture Technician, John Cordova: 1st Place for Carving at the Hispanic Arts Center, State Fair of New Mexico.

SFCC Artist Spotlight: Esther Ann Smith

Today, the ceramics department is putting the spotlight on Esther Ann Smith of Lamy, New Mexico. She received her B.A.S. in Psychology Magna Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2002 with minors in Studio Art and German Studies. A non-traditional student, Esther received a Certificate in Ceramics from SFCC in 2015. She has been working in ceramics for 28 years and has been pursuing it full time for the past 9, currently working out of a detached studio shared with her husband on the property where they live. She jokes, “it’s a short commute to work!”

I think the name of your business is great! Can you tell us about the meaning behind “Influx Ceramics”?

Sure! It has multiple meanings for me. First, a lot of what I make comes from a place of experimentation and exploration. The work changes based on these things. I do have certain items I make that may seem the same to one another to the casual observer, yet there are usually small changes I’m working on, so even those are evolving. I want the work to feel exciting and fresh and to always be evolving toward its best iteration.

Secondly, it’s about the stimuli coming in. The constant influx of both visual stimuli and life experiences—it’s all of it coming in, processing it through my creative filter, reworking it into something that’s never existed before…in clay.

Lastly, flux is the main agent which is necessary for glazes to melt. Couldn’t do this process without it!

Much of the general population has no idea what it is like to be a potter/ceramic artist. What would you like to tell the world about what it’s like to be in your shoes?

That’s a tough one.  So many people have this dreamy idea of what it’s like.  And part of that is true…on the days I’m just working in the studio, drinking coffee, looking out at the mountains. That is dreamy.  I’ll tell you though, that ends up being the sweet stuff…you crave it, and that’s what keeps it all going.  The reality is a little different.  The time I have to make work in the studio ends up being a small fraction.  There’s the making.  Then there’s the maintenance of the studio-ordering clay/glaze materials, mixing glaze, reclaiming clay, just to name a few.  Office tasks require so much time…emails, interviews like this;) ordering supplies, bookkeeping, filing taxes, renewing licenses, applying to shows, designing business cards, updating the website, photographing work, getting out there and selling the work.  It’s a lot.  It’s a lot of managing and it is very challenging.

It also takes so much more than simply creativity.  You must know a fair amount of technical “stuff” to make things work in clay.  Knowledge of materials, problem-solving, chemistry, physics, labor are all part of it too, as with any artistic medium.

What lasting influence has receiving a ceramics certificate from SFCC had on you?

Taking ceramics classes at SFCC gave me the nuts and bolts to branch out and operate my own studio.  Basic things like loading, programming, and firing a kiln.  After having worked in ceramics for so many years in community studios I still didn’t have the basic knowledge or experience to do it on my own.

Probably the main thing is learning how to make glazes.  Learning about materials and their roles, formulating and testing glazes.  I had absolutely no idea what this was all about before coming to SFCC.  It has allowed me to create glazes that are interesting to me and somewhat unique as they’re my own recipes.  It just opens more doors for experimentation and exploration, which is endless in this field.

At SFCC, I landed in a place that was overflowing with opportunities to explore, enhanced with talented instructors, skillful fellow students, and fantastic facilities. This environment allowed me to try out many ways of working in clay to figure out my own aesthetic.  I learned to be curious, try, fail, try again, and follow my instincts.

Esther sells primarily at the Santa Fe Artist Market in the Railyard across from REI on Saturdays and select Tuesdays this Fall. She has an online shop and an events page which can be found on her website www.influxceramics.com.