The second annual North Carolina Ceramic Arts Festival (NCCAF) returns to downtown Asheville’s Pack Square Park on Saturday, Sept. 22 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.
The festival will feature over 40 ceramic artists from across North Carolina and the East coast who will have their work for display and sale. In addition to the diverse array of ceramic works, there will be food trucks, live music, raku firing demonstrations, and a special Make-and-Take booth provided by artists from Open Hearts Art Center.
NCCAF was born from a conversation about the need for an Asheville festival to celebrate the work of ceramic artists from all over the nation. Festival Coordinator and local ceramic artist Tori Motyl said,”Asheville is already known for drawing talented ceramic artists and craftspeople from all over the country to come and live and work in its thriving arts community. What better way to encourage and celebrate this than with a festival committed to local and national ceramics talent and collectors!”
NCCAF is honored to present local ceramic artist Sarah Wells Rolland as 2018 Featured Artist, a position offered to an artist that the Festival Coordinators see as an inspiration and example of excellent work in the ceramic arts. “I’ve been working with clay for 35 years now, and its flexibility and forgiving quality keeps me captivated and inspired,” said Rolland. “When someone responds to my work, that is the place where we find connection, a shared passion, and relationship.” Rolland owns The Village Potters, a ceramics education center in Asheville’s River Arts District. Many local ceramic artists have grown and built their own businesses under her guidance and mentorship. “Mentoring is sharing your already discovered knowledge and wisdom but even more importantly it is a commitment to learn together and to take ownership of the success of the one you are mentoring,” says Rolland.
This year, the festival is working in partnership with local nonprofit Open Hearts Art Center, a day-program for differently-abled adults which utilizes art as therapy. Open Hearts artists are making ceramic pieces which festival-goers can collaborate with artists to decorate and take home.
NCCAF is coordinated by a team of six ceramic artists who originally met while studying together at The Village Potters in Asheville, NC. They came together in February of 2017 because of their mutual love and passion for pursuing a future of ceramic arts and creating a venue to celebrate and promote ceramic artists locally and nationally.
Please visit the festival’s website or the festival’s Facebook page for additional information.