Watch potters-in-residence work, try your hand at the pottery wheel at the Wolfsonian

Potter-in-Residence at Wolfsonian Museum. Image courtesy Wolfsoniani FIU

The Ceramic League of Miami is hosting a potter-in-residence program throughout the month of February, the group’s first event of its kind where members of the public can watch ceramics artists at work and try their own hand at the pottery wheel.

The Ceramic League of Miami and The Wolfsonian Museum at Florida International University organized a potter-in-residence event as a weekly event throughout February. The free event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. every Friday night throughout the month at the Bridge Tender House (Josephine Baker Pavilion). Attendees can also sign up to participate in ten-minute sessions at the pottery wheel.

Pottery has been enjoying a resurgence in popular interest in recent years, said James Herring, president of the Ceramic League of Miami.

He said there have been lines to the pottery wheel every week of the potter-in-residence event.

“Many people nowadays are locked into their screens and phones and computers and don’t necessarily get the chance to do much with their hands,” Herring said.

The volunteer-based Ceramic League of Miami has been around for 73 years, making it among the oldest arts groups in Miami-Dade County, Herring said.

“I think there’s this interest in doing things that aren’t screen-based,” he said. “The pandemic may have contributed to it, but I think it was already happening before the pandemic.”

Potter-in-Residence image courtesy Wolfsonian FIU.

Herring said he hopes the potter-in-residence events at the Wolfsonian can raise awareness of the local resources available to people interested in the art of ceramics.“We [at the Ceramic League of Miami] have a great facility with many kilns and access to firings that no one else is doing in South Florida, really, aside from maybe some of the universities,” he said.

“We want to let people know that this is a resource, and that anybody can basically become a member if they can show a few pieces.”

The Ceramic League of Miami also organizes workshops and lectures with well-known ceramics artists. The group is hosting a lecture with esteemed potter Tom Coleman 7 p.m. Friday at the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas.

“Our mission is to educate the public about ceramics,” Herring said.

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