New BLAAUW kiln coming to Medalta

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Medalta kiln

Medalta has some especially exciting news to share. Thanks to two very generous donations, we are getting ready to install a brand new natural gas Blaauw kiln in our contemporary artist studios. Blaauw is known for making some of the highest-quality kilns in the world and we're so happy to be able to provide future resident artists the opportunity to access this beautiful tool in our contemporary studios.

The first donor - Order of Canada appointee, Canadian Ceramic Artist, long-time driver of Medalta's contemporary ceramics program and Artist Emeritus in our contemporary studios, Les Manning - made a generous contribution towards the kiln in 2012. His goal has always been to elevate Canada's ceramic arts - a goal he believes this new kiln will help achieve.

The second donor has similar goals to Les. Gwen Strojic is a Calgary, Alberta-based woman with a love of arts & culture. She is a ceramist herself and has taken workshops with many Canadian ceramic artists. After a visit to Medalta in 2012 she became struck by the museum, contemporary artists' studios and the dedication to preserving the past while simultaneously forging ahead. Shortly thereafter, Gwen decided to contribute to Medalta's contemporary ceramic program and donated generously to a new kiln.

Thanks to generous donors like Les and Gwen, Medalta's contemporary ceramic studios have become a place where artists can work together, experiment with new processes and develop new bodies of work in a tight, positive, communal atmosphere.

Recent Medalta resident artist Jody Baral of Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, CA sums up the Medalta Experience very well:

"Why = Should

If you want to concentrate on your work in an atmosphere that is 100% supportive of your artistic endeavors, that is enabled by the fantastic facility, a great and supportive artistic community, and a location that provides everything you need to create... then you Should.

My experience was rocket fuel."

Remember, time is ticking. 2014 is going to be a great year at Medalta and we want you to be a part of it. You may be a returning artist or a first-time resident. You may have a well-established practice or you may have just graduated from art school.

Whatever your current situation is, Medalta can help provide the rocket fuel so you can push your own ceramic practice further.

Apply by April 15, 2014.

Report courtesy Medalta