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Shelby County Arts Council is proud to present Friends of the Anagama: A Ceramics Exhibition featuring ceramic artwork fired in University of Montevallo's Anagama Kiln featuring artists Dr. Scott Meyer, Dr. Chris Greenman, Susie Bowman, Tony Wright, Megan Gulland and Scott Bennett. Scott Meyer and Friends will exhibit their pottery fired in the wood fire kiln located on the school's campus. A photo exposé chronicling the firing process of the kiln will accompany the exhibit.

University of Montevallo's Anagama Kiln, A.K.A. "Fat Bastard" is a one-of-a-kind, handbuilt Japanese-style kiln that is fired about twice a year. The firing process, which takes four full days and nights, is grueling and takes months to prepare. Fourteen cords of pine and oak are required to fire this twenty foot long kiln. A team of volunteers, students, and professors from all over the Southeast come to help, taking shifts all day and all night long, stoking the fire until it reaches over 2300 degrees. Once the kiln has reached full temperature, it is begins the cooling process which takes over a week. Once cool, a team of artists and volunteers help unload, revealing hundreds of beautifully unique pots.

The Opening Reception is slated for Sunday, May 5th, 2013, 2:00 - 4:00pm at the SCAC gallery.

The exhibition will run May 5th - 31st, 2013. The opening reception and exhibition is free and open to the public.

Friends of the Anagama Exhibit

Exhibition Statement

  
‘If you build it, they will come.”
 
-Field of Dreams
 
 
In the movie, this line expressed the improbable possibility that, once created, an environment could attract an aggregate of players and define the game they loved. In 2000, a large materials donation and the blessings of the University of Montevallo made it possible to build a series of ceramic kilns on campus. The largest one, a forty-foot wood-fired anagama consumes between twelve and fourteen cords of split pine over the four and one half days of straight firing. This created the necessity of a large number of skilled professionals and students to participate in these bi-yearly events. Quickly, a core group of artists assembled with an astonishing variety of backgrounds, skills, and creative goals. Becoming known eventually as “Da Band” the artists featured in this exhibition are, indeed, like a musical group. Each possesses a distinct, individual voice, but they are held together by mutual regard, influence and by the elemental qualities of the kiln itself.

The exhibition will run May 5th - 31st, 2013. The opening reception and exhibition is free and open to the public.