Turkey Stremmel with Patti Warashina’s “Vaso dei Flori”/Photo Courtesy Tim Dunn/RGJ
Ceramic artists are getting their long overdue recognition at Stremmel Gallery.
Although the gallery has included a few ceramic artists in shows over the years, “Contemporary Ceramics,” an exhibition that opened Sept. 20, is the gallery’s first group show.
Turkey Stremmel, the gallery’s artistic director, said being invited to Helena, Mont., last year to lead the live auction for the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts was a revelation.
The foundation, also called “The Bray,” has become known for its artist residency program and is recognized as one of the leading centers for ceramic arts in the United States. Stremmel said she “flipped” when she saw the works from the 260 artists participating in the live and silent auctions.
“When we finished the auction and we were on our way home, I said to (husband) Pete, ‘We’ve got to do a group ceramics show,’” she said. “It was so energizing. The people in the audience went wild. And he looked at me and said, ‘We’ve never done this before.’ Somehow, it just galvanized for me and I realized how important ceramics are.” For more from the RGJ’s article, click here.