Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 87 of letting go, of setting things up to then letting the vicissitudes of chemical reactions and heat take charge. It involves an intricate dance between the artist's mind and hands, clay, glaze, and heat. Each step in the dance may depend on the work of others—to cut wood and stoke the fires of the kiln, to place the pieces in choreographed posi- tions to let the heat flow through and play off each item, to identify, locate, and dig the soils that will constitute the clay or the glazes, to share recipes for producing diverse colors and textures. Julia Galloway and Josh DeWeese epitomize Montana's strong presence on the international stage of the ceramic arts. A utilitarian potter, the University of Montana's Julia Galloway uses every means at her disposal to engage her audience in the themes and emotions encapsulated in her cups, plates, pitchers, and vases. "e Place It Is Where We Call Home" was a large-scale exhibition and installa- tion of pottery at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in Great Falls Montana that began with dinner served on Julia's cloud plates, only to find the plates then displayed from the gallery's ceiling. She chalked the walls of one gallery to create an illusion of a garden fence to individually perch her "Birds of North America" cups on thin shelves, several of which were equipped with motion sensors to produce the bird call as viewers passed by. Her constant innovation, workshops, teaching, writings, and studies of the ceramic arts were recently recognized by the Chicago based philanthropic organiza- tion, United States Artists, with an unrestricted $50,000 arts grants that will enable Julia to explore even more artistic frontiers. Josh DeWeese of Montana State University often turns to Mon- tana's soils to constitute his clays and glazes. Josh gives a whole new meaning to roadside geology. As he travels Montana's highways and byways, his eyes inspect all "road cuts" for exposed materials that are there for the taking with a shovel and a bucket. One of his favorite locations for gathering "mud stone" that can be pulverized and formulated into glazes is along Trail Creek outside of Boze- man. Josh found the site by following the local lore and history of potters who came before him. His MSU students routinely accom- pany him to gather the materials for the light olive-green glaze that gives his platters their lovely earthy hues. Both Julia and Josh point to the foundational importance of the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in establishing Mon- tana as a giant within the ceramic arts. Helena brickmaker Archie Bray used his Western Clay Manufacturing Company to start the first artist residency program dedicated solely to ceramics in 1951. Initial artists in residence, Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos, began their illustrious careers there and established the center as a hub for ceramic education and innovation. e experimental and community atmosphere, the surrounding mountains, the historical brick factory and kilns, endless quantities of clay and minerals for making glazes, and the caliber of its artists have all served to make the Archie Bray Foundation an internationally acclaimed ceramics destination. It is undeniably responsible for nurturing Montana's ceramicists who consistently embed the very fiber of Montana into their creations. It offers the raw substances and materials from which art is made. Josh DeWeese Josh DeWeese Chris Bieniek BROCK MICKELSEN (2) Students including Dean Leeper (above right), cooperatively saw and split wood from the University of Montana's Lubrecht Experimental Forest to supply the wood burning kiln that requires around the clock attendance to maintain heat. The placement of individual pieces within the large kiln interplays with the heat to produce unexpected results.

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