God mates The aneiod

Several years ago Hank and seme his
colleagues and friends attended an
NCECA conference. At that time, Hank
was interested in developing and
bniibelingl a ceramic fibre gas kiln, similar
te the ome he built at the Burnaby Art.
Centre. On the first day of the confer-
ence he was introduced asa kiln builder.
With but one exception, the reaction of
educators and artists alike was one of
indifference, to put it kindly. The next
day Hank asked to be introduced as a
potter and was greeted with some inter-
est and curiosity. On the third day he
asked his colleagues to introduce him
as an artist. With little exception the
response from the NCECA participants
was attentive, curtouws, and respectful.

At the heart of the controversy belween
ceramic sculptors and potters les two
fundarnentally divergent practices, They
are:

1. The freedom to explore and push
the limits of form.

2. The necessity to periorm daily, yet
lovingly, with beauty and human
warmth.

Can anyone claim that elther of these ts
“out af date’. unclear, “a concession to
fashion", etc? The practise. the act
itself, is not controversial. Itis in general
how we want the world to see us, and
what we hope to galn from that percep-
tlon that ts problematic.

[ bellewe that the Potters’ Guild has
found a workable middle ground, so far
unmentioned, between the two peaks of
the moral high ground as outlined above.
The Potters’ Guild ts a non-profit soci-

BALANCE WITH DIVERSITY Continued fram Page 1

ety. Like other such organizations, its
goals and purposes identified in the
constitution are attempted to be met by
a numberof services. The workable mid-
dle ground, as | see it, lies with the fact
that the most publicly visible aspect of
the Guild is named “The Gallery of B.C.
Ceramics”, which one hopes fs perceived
as sufficiently inclusive and modern.
The organization, the mother “corp.” if
you Will, is called “The Potters Guild of
B.C." which seems to me a fair
appelation, given thal for the past forty
years and Into the present, it has been
potters and the lovers of pottery who
have organized to establish a respected
community presence, to educate, and to
please. Jim's assertions that we are
unable to talk to government. the pub-
lic, etc, and that we have our head stuck
in the sand are in clear contradiction of
what has actually happened. If the ef-
forts to organize the Guild and Gallery
had been unsuccessful, who would now
be Interested Im renaming it?

In conclusion, the most publicly vislble
part of the organization is named “The
Gallery of B.C. Ceramics”, and in prac-
tiae the Gallery includes vessels, sculp-
ture, and pottery which makes it both
functionally and symbolically inclusive.
Admittedly the venue for presenting
sculptural work needs to be improved, a
problem which the Board ts allempling
to solve, [It may be that many members
feel that the words Potter and Guild are
sulficlently inappropriate that they can-
not share the stage with the words Gal-
lery or Ceramics. Is what Rumi said
true, “No one knows our mame until our
last breath has gone out."?

Nathan Rajla

Renew today so your April Newsletter will be sent to you!

{ ) Change of Address

Name:

( ) Membership Application
( ) Membership Renewal

Mail te:

The Potters Guild of B.C.

1359 Cartwright St,
Vancouver, B.C, V6H 3R7

Address:

City & Province: _

Postal Code:

Tel:

I enclose my cheque/money order in the amount af $
(Fees: Individual: $20/year, Group: $30/year)

March, 1991

Page 7