A ceramics exhibition celebrating the upcoming retirement of 37-year Salve Regina art professor Jay Lacouture will be presented at Dorrance Hamilton Gallery Feb. 22-March 28. “Transformed by Fire: A Wood Fire Community” is a group exhibition featuring ceramic work fired at Lacouture’s home studio in Carolina.
On Thursday, February 22, 2018 the general public and the campus community are invited to attend the opening reception for the artists. This reception will run from 5-8 p.m. in the gallery, located in Antone Academic Center on Lawrence Avenue. As part of the evening, Lacouture will also give a talk, “Transformed by Fire: Forty Years Later,” in the adjacent DiStefano Lecture Hall at 6 p.m. He will officially retire from Salve Regina’s faculty in May.
By its very nature, the process of stoking a wood kiln breeds a certain community spirit and provides a unique educational opportunity for all who participate. This exhibition features work from the last two firings of “Uncle George,” the two-chamber wood kiln at Carolina Pottery, a valuable teaching tool for Lacouture and hundreds of his former students, professional potters and visiting artists since 1999, when it was first built and fired.
This exhibition is curated from the most recent May and October firings in 2017. It’s a celebration of all who have been a part of this vibrant process and learning community. Current students and alumni, former visiting artists in ceramics and potters from across the region were invited to participate in both the firings and the exhibition.
Lacouture is a fellow and former president of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) and served on the board of directors for the Studio Potter Organization. He has been an artist in residence in Kamioka, Japan; Jingdezhen, China and at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mont. His pottery has been exhibited and published in the U.S., Australia, China and Japan.
The Dorrance H. Hamilton Gallery is handicap accessible with parking along Lawrence and Leroy avenues. Its exhibits are open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays noon to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed on Mondays.