Sheila Pepe ’83 BFA Ceramics was recently profiled by the New York Times in celebration of her newest installation at Madison Square Park. For more than two decades, Pepe has used the craft of crochet as a way to “draw” in three dimensions and infiltrate architecture. At the northern end of Madison Square Park, Pepe has suspended strips of crocheted material, measuring as long as 95 feet, from the tops of eight existing lampposts and eight 20-foot-tall telephone poles newly planted around the lawn and walkways.

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On a recent weekday morning, James Guggina was feeding wood into his backyard kiln and watching the pyrometer climb toward 2,500 degrees.

“This is my job. It’s also my absolute passion,” he said, pausing with an armful of scrap wood salvaged from a local casket company. “People complain about sitting in a cubicle all day. I feel so fortunate that I get to make things.”

Guggina moved to Northampton two decades ago from Boston, where he attended MassArt and worked for the acclaimed Fort Point potter Gabrielle Schaffner. These days, Guggina has three kilns — wood, gas, and electric — and he works, more or less, constantly.

He didn’t know anyone in the area initially, but that changed after he was invited to join the pottery trail. “It’s great to have other people to commiserate with nearby,” Guggina said. And this weekend, there will be throngs of folks visiting his studio.

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“Deep Dive” was created over a weeklong firing process in Westport, Massachusetts, where Binder said she and fellow artists “fed the kiln every five to seven minutes.” The piece itself, which was wheel-thrown and then intricately molded and carved, presented many textures found in the sea, like tentacles, fish scales, leathery skins, shells, and more, and highlighted tones ranging from cream to nearly black.

“I welcome people to touch the work, to run their hands over it because it really beckons,” she said.

Binder, a recent graduate from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a master’s degree in ceramics, is a member of the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative. She has been working in ceramics for only nine years, having spent the balance of her career in drawing and painting. She says she generally begins her ceramics work from sketches.

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“Tess Lukey (BFA, Ceramics), a curator and Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal member, has been named The Trustees of Reservations’ first associate curator of Native American art.”

“For the month of March, the Reboli Center for Art & History in Stony Brook’s featured artisan is potter Hannah Niswonger.

“Hannah Niswonger’s whimsical work is so striking, colorful, cheerful and unique, we’re thrilled to welcome her as the Reboli Center’s March Artisan. We’re sure everyone will be delighted by her creative mix of vibrant designs and realistic animal portraits in her pottery. They are so adorable and colorful that they make you feel so happy,” said Lois Reboli, president and a founder of The Reboli Center.

“Niswonger fell in love with clay while in college at Wesleyan in Middletown, Connecticut, where she earned a BA in studio art.  Hannah received a MFA in ceramic sculpture from Alfred University in Alfred, New York. She is currently teaching at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and has taught courses in ceramics at Harvard University, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, Hannah frequently teaches sculpture classes.  She gives workshops nationally, as well as exhibiting in galleries throughout the United States. Hannah also participates in juried craft shows, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art Show, the Smithsonian Craft Show and CraftBoston. A resident of Melrose, Massachusetts, she lives there with her husband, three children, one dog and two rabbits.”

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