2024 Exhibition Theme: The Handle

Juror: Sanam Emami
Sponsored by Larry Cohen

Humans have been tinkering with the idea of how to hold artifacts and pots since they began to make them. From cups and teapots to buckets and trays, handles allow us to hold, carry and embrace pots and many other objects in our daily lives. The handle of any object becomes a bridge between the object and the user or viewer, it extends out to us and much as we extend out to it.

George Simmel in his 1911 essay ‘The Handle’, describes “The unconscious criterion for the aesthetic effect of the handle seems to be the manner in which its shape harmonizes these two worlds - the world on the outside that, with the handle, makes its claim on the vessel, and the world of art that, heedless of the other, demands the handle for itself.” As the juror, I am excited to see an expansive and diverse interpretation of what a handle is and how the handle bridges the world of the vessel/object/container and the space of the viewer/user. 

- Sanam Emami

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Exhibition on display August 26th - October 5th, 2024

Carbondale Clay National is a national exhibition of ceramic art held annually at the Carbondale Clay Center Gallery in Carbondale, CO. Each year CCC’s selected juror(s) develop a theme for the exhibition, invite a handful of contemporary ceramic artists who emulate the theme, and choose about 25-30 works (scale dependent) from the jury pool.

AWARDS

Best in Show: $500

Staff Selection: $250

People’s Choice: $100

SUBMISSION AGREEMENT
The submission of entries shall be understood to constitute an agreement on the part of the artist to all rules and conditions. Entries not meeting the criteria will be disqualified, and the entry fee will not be refunded. Please make a copy of this application for your records. Thank you for sharing your work with us!

IMAGE INFORMATION
Please fill in your entry information online. Images must be high-resolution JPEG images (300dpi). Each artist may submit a maximum of three entries. One image, plus one detail image will be permitted per entry. Please save each file as FIRST initial LAST initial ENTRY # (DETAIL if necessary) as it corresponds to this form. Example: EF01.jpg or EF01DETAIL.jpg.

SIZE & DESIGN RESTRICTIONS
All works entered must be less than 3,000 cubic inches. Works requiring a pedestal must have a footprint less than 13” x 13”. * All works must be installation ready with all necessary hanging hardware and or custom bases for specific three dimensional works, no exceptions. All wall works must be less than 20lbs per section unless prior contact with Studio Manager is made about a piece’s size and weight. Extraordinary installation techniques are to be discussed and confirmed prior to sending work to the gallery. The exhibition organizers accept no liability for damage to pieces damaged by people interaction, or “acts of god”. It is recommended that any artist accepted into the exhibition purchase their own additional liability insurance, especially for any exterior works.

SALES
All work must be available for sale. There is a 60% commission to the artist on all sales during the exhibition and payment will be made on all sold work within one month following receipt of payment from the purchaser. No work may be removed from the gallery until the close of the exhibition, and prices quoted on the entry form may not be changed after acceptance.

EXHIBITION NOTES & POLICIES
Open to all types of ceramics / ceramics materials: utilitarian pots or sculptural ceramics. Submission should be at least 50% clay. All work must have been completed within the last two years, must be original, and must be for sale. The artist must own the sole copyright to art. Substitutions of accepted works will not be allowed. All delivered work must match the juried image exactly.

ACCEPTED WORK & SHIPPING
Accepted artists will receive instructions for shipping or hand delivery. Shipping costs and insurance to and from the exhibition locations are the responsibility of the artist. An account number that can be charged for return shipping via UPS or FedEx is mandatory, or prior arrangements must be made with exhibition staff for in-person delivery and in-person pick up. All in-person deliveries of works must have suitable reusable packing containers for in-gallery handling by installation teams and protection of work until time of installation. Reusable shipping containers and packing materials, in addition to proper unpacking, installation, and repacking instructions are required and should be included for each accepted work.

No styrofoam peanuts when possible.

* Any questions regarding the size and design feasibility, or how to properly pack your work please contact Matthew Eames BEFORE you send in your application. studio@carbondaleclay.org

JUROR BIOGRAPHY

Sanam Emami is a studio potter living in Fort Collins, CO with her husband Del Harrow and their son William. She received a BA in History from James Madison University in Virginia, and an MFA in Ceramics from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Pottery at Colorado State University. She was a Visiting Assistant Professor in Ceramics at Alfred University, resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Montana, and has lectured at the Office for the Arts at Harvard University; the Kansas City Art Institute; Arizona State University Art Museum-Ceramic Research Center, and NCECA in Louisville, Kentucky. She received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant for Craft and her work has been in exhibitions at numerous galleries across the country including The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston; The Art-Stream Nomadic Gallery; Harvey Meadows Gallery, Aspen; Schaller Gallery; Hostler Burrows.

sanamemami.com