NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Stephanie Sun, Marketing Manager
ssun@contemporarycraft.org
412.261.7003 x29
www.contemporarycraft.org

CONTEMPORARY CRAFT SHARES INTERSECTING NARRATIVES IN NEW CERAMICS EXHIBITION
An exhibition that reflects on the stories of a global community

EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS:

EXHIBITION DETAILS:Free admission
Free hands-on making activity in the Drop-in Studio
37 artists
Companion exhibitions and programs
NCECA ANNUAL EXHIBITION
Guest Curator Winnie Owens-Hart

DATES: March 14 – August 18, 2018
PLACE: Contemporary Craft
2100 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
TIME: Monday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM
ADMISSION: FreeWEBSITE: www.contemporarycraft.org
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/SCCPgh
TWITTER: @SCCPgh
INSTAGRAM: @SCCpgh
HASHTAG: #VisualVoices, #TruthNarratives

Pittsburgh, PA – January 22, 2018
In collaboration with the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), Contemporary Craft ispleased to host the exhibition - Visual Voices: Truth Narratives. Featuring ceramic works by 37 nationally andinternationally recognized artists, this expansive exhibition features artwork from a range of emerging andestablished artists. Guest curator Winnie Owens-Hart has brought together five invited artists, Syd Carpenter,
Roberto Lugo, Sana Musasama, Reginald Pointer, and Janathel Shaw with 32 juried ceramic artists to display
powerful works that speak to a variety of personal and global issues. These narrative artworks, whether literal orabstract, acknowledge racial, religious, class, and gender biases that exist throughout the world. Together theworks create a sense of interconnectedness among our global community.
A public opening reception is planned in conjunction with the NCECA conference on Thursday, March 15 from 6:00
to 9:00 PM. The exhibition will be on view through Saturday, August 18, 2018 at CC’s Strip District gallery located inthe Produce Terminal at the intersection of 21st and Smallman Streets. The exhibition and reception are free andopen to the public.

An Exhibition about Free Expressions on the Current Local and Global Community
Visual Voices explores universal human stories. Historically, ceramic objects have been used to tell stories throughvisual imagery, codification, and narratives. In this way, clay objects have enabled archaeologists to theorize onceremonial, spiritual, and utilitarian societal markers that document the social and cultural contexts of theirmakers’ communities. Today, artists continue the creation of narrative works using the ceramic medium.
Contemporary ceramists, compared to their historical counterparts, are visually bombarded through technology
and diverse media systems. Some work in Visual Voices is created based solely on the artist’s personal experiences
while others are influenced by what they see through the media; many today are shaped by both.

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ABOUT GUEST CURATOR: WINNIE OWENS-HART
Winnie Owens-Hart was born in Washington, DC. She received her BA from the Philadelphia College of Art, and her
MFA from Howard University. Active in the arts since the late 1960s, Owens-Hart has exhibited nationally andinternationally for over three decades, and received numerous awards, including the individual Craftsmen
Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lifetime Achievement in the Craft Arts Award. A
teacher, author, and sculptor, Owens-Hart uses clay to touch on women issues - both personal and global.
Additionally, her work examines the correlation between external forces and a person's psyche.
"Our individual life experiences determine how we are shaped and, in turn, how we shape the clay.”- Winnie Owens-Hart

ABOUT THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON EDUCATION FOR THE CERAMIC ARTSThe National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) promotes and improves the ceramic arts througheducation, community building, research, and creative inspiration. NCECA offers programs, events, andpublications to support its membership of artists, students, individual and corporate patrons, gallery owners,
museum curators and providers of ceramic arts-related products and services. As a dynamic, member-drivenorganization, NCECA is flexible in its program development, international in its perspective and responsive to thechanging needs of its constituency. The 52nd Annual Conference of NCECA will take place March 14 – 17, 2018 inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. CrossCurrents: Clay and Culture, the theme for NCECA’s 2018 conference reflects
Pittsburgh as a city of rivers, bridges, complex immigrant history, gritty perseverance, and reinvention.

COMPANION EXHIBITION AND PROGRAMS•••

CC’s Drop-In Studio (free and open to the public during regular business hours) will feature a hands-on, artmaking activity appropriate for visitors of all ages and skill-levels designed by exhibiting artist Natalia Arbelaez.
Group programs for Visual Voices include guided group tours and hands-on activities for visitors to experience
craft techniques and to have in-depth conversations on topics explored in the exhibitions. Schedule a group tour
with CC at nsweet@contemporarycraft.org or call at 412.261.7003.
Storyteller will feature ceramic objects created using a 2000-year-old pottery process by Albuquerque-based
artist Jami Porter Lara. Porter Lara is one of the “20 Artists Shaping the Future of Ceramics” named by Artsy in
2017; her artwork resembles the ubiquitous icon of modern life - the plastic bottle. Storyteller will be on view atCC’s BNY Mellon Satellite Gallery, located in downtown Pittsburgh’s Steel Plaza T-Station from February 16 toMay 6, 2018. The exhibition is free and open to the public daily through midnight.

FUNDERS AND SUPPORTVisual Voices: Truth Narratives is made possible by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts andmedia sponsored by 90.5 WESA and 91.3 WYEP (as of January 2018). Contemporary Craft is supported in part bythe Allegheny Regional Asset District, the Elizabeth R. Raphael Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Heinz
Endowments, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

ABOUT CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
Presenting contemporary art in craft mediums by regional, national, and international artists since 1971,
Contemporary Craft (CC) offers cutting edge exhibitions focusing on multicultural diversity and non-mainstream art,
as well as a range of studio workshops, community outreach programs, and a retail store. Through its mission ofPage 2 of 3

engaging the public in creative experiences through contemporary craft, CC offers meaningful art opportunities for
145,000 people a year through four core values: providing vital support for artists, filling critical gaps in public
education; sharing cross cultural perspectives; and using art to build community.
CC is located at 2100 Smallman Street in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, PA. Hours are Monday through Saturday,
10 AM to 5 PM. Exhibition and informal, hands-on art activities in the Drop-In Studio are always free to the public.
Contemporary Craft is committed to making its exhibitions, programs, and services accessible to the public. For
questions related to accessible accommodations, please contact us. For more information, call 412.261.7003 orvisit www.contemporarycraft.org.
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Please contact Stephanie Sun at ssun@contemporarycraft.org for additional details or high res images.

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