In conjunction with the current exhibit, kilnopening.edu: Southern California Ceramic Instructors and Select Students, the American Museum of Ceramic Art announces Vince Palacios’ June 9^th lecture, Alchemy: Transformation of Material and Image, a part of AMOCA’s 2^nd Saturday Lecture Series. This lecture will cover Palacios’ current work and the evolution of his process.

Palacios’ ceramics are very involved and time consuming, requiring up to twenty hours for a single piece. Instead of traditional uses of glaze or freehand surface decoration, he uses decals to apply images from different sources, time periods and mediums. Beginning with one figure made from combined images, he then layers more decals, firing the piece multiple times in order to achieve his desired effect. Eventually the piece resolves into a narrative with elaborate imagery based on a ceramic form. About his work he says “I am sampling images to reconstruct into intense, layered, mythological narratives, which have a very different rhythm than flat drawings.”

AMOCA is currently looking for donations of new, gently used, or in need of refurbishing Potter’s Wheels and Computers.

Creating great experiences for students through interdisciplinary collaboration, creative resource management, and community involvement was the theme of the night at the American Museum of Ceramic Art’s annual Educator’s Night on May 12^th. Every year AMOCA hosts an Educator’s Night, inviting instructors from local high schools and colleges to a lecture on an education-related theme. This year featured Stacey Kalkowski (UCLA & OCHSA), Betty Harrison (Elsinore High School), and Angie Reyes (AMOCA). The presentation was concluded by museum director Christy Johnson.

The American Museum of Ceramic Art filled their new space at 399 N. Garey Ave on Saturday when over 800 people joined in celebrating the opening of their spring 2012 shows kilnopening.edu and Big Fish, Small Pot V. The standing-room only crowd included professors, students and artisans from around Southern California and around the world. Yixing Teapot masters from China and Southern California High School ceramics students rubbed shoulders as the awards for the juried High School Emerging Artists exhibit (part of kilnopening.edu 2012) and the awards for Big Fish, Small Pot V were announced.