AMOCA Announces New Artists in Residence

(California, April 23, 2026)—The American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) announced today four artists in residence for 2026–2027 (in order of arrival): Lindsey (Lou) Howard of Brooklyn, New York; Randi O’Brien of Running Springs, California; Priscilla Dobler Dzul of Tacoma, Washington; and Mary Duman of Sacramento, California.

This year’s selection process was notably competitive—almost 150 applications were submitted for just four residency slots. Jurists Beth Ann Gerstein (Executive Director, AMOCA), Maxwell Henderson (2025–26 Artist in Residence and AMOCA’s Ceramic Studio Manager), and Sin-Ying Ho (Associate Professor of Ceramics at Queens College, CUNY; Advisor to Taoxichuan Art Centre, Jingdezhen; Trustee of Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts; Board Member of the Museum of Ceramic Art New York; and Director at Large of NCECA)—brought a wide range of perspectives to the selection process.

Beth Ann Gerstein, Executive Director of AMOCA, commented: “Our studio residency program is an integral component of the museum’s commitment to supporting contemporary artistic practice, and we’re pleased to be able to bring distinct artistic voices and bold talent to our region each year. The extraordinary depth of this year’s applicant pool speaks to the ongoing vitality of ceramic practice as well as artists’ enduring need for practical institutional support. On behalf of our partners, donors, members, staff, and current artists-in-residence, I enthusiastically welcome the 2026-2027 cohort of ceramic artists to AMOCA.”

Launched in 2012, AMOCA’s Artist in Residence program is one of the few long-term fellowship opportunities for ceramic artists on the West Coast. Located an hour from the desert, mountains, and beaches of Southern California and forty minutes east of Los Angeles, the residency space provides artists an opportunity to produce or develop a new body of work while also participating in AMOCA’s programs. Shorter residency opportunities for artists commuting from Southern California locales encourage artistic exchange with artists visiting from other parts of the world.

The Artist in Residence program at the AMOCA Ceramics Studio is made possible with support from the Windgate Foundation and the Laguna Clay and Glaze Company.

2026-2027 AMOCA Artists in Residence
(in order of arrival)

Lindsey (Lou) Howard (b. 1997) is a ceramic sculptor born in Dallas, Texas and based in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BA in Art History from the University of Northern Colorado with concentrations in Ceramics and Chemistry. Howard’s work has been exhibited domestically and internationally including Museum Stadtpalais in Stuttgart, Germany (2023); Albertz Benda in Los Angeles, CA (2023); Christie’s Gallery in London, England (2024); and Jeffery Deitch in Miami, FL (2025). She was an artist-in-residence at PLOP in London, England (2023) and Museum of Art and Design in New York, NY (2025). Howard will be in residence at AMOCA from August 2026–July 2027.

Randi O’Brien is a multiracial ceramic artist, historian, author, professor, and administrator from the Rocky Mountains. She earned both an MFA in ceramics and an MA in art history from the University of Montana. O’Brien is currently an associate professor and discipline lead of the ceramics, sculpture, and jewelry program at Irvine Valley College in Orange County, California. She is also the executive director and editor of Studio Potter. O’Brien exhibits across the United States and globally; selected locations include Kilkenny, Ireland; Valparaiso, Chile; Alberta, Canada; and New York, among other states in the US. O’Brien has curated numerous exhibitions and has presented her research on ceramics at conferences and for organizations, including NCECA, the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, the Women as Change Makers Summit, the Montana Education Association, Xuchang International University, and Ceramics Ireland’s International Ceramic Festival, among others. Her research has been published in Ceramics Monthly, Ceramics Art and Perception: Technical, Ceramics Ireland, and Studio Potter. O’Brien will be in residence at AMOCA from October 2026–March 2027.

Priscilla Dobler Dzul is an interdisciplinary storyteller. Born in Yucatan, Mexico she received her MFA in Sculpture from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Her inspiration comes from her passion and commitment to the preservation of land, oral stories, craft and representation of her multi-Maya cultural heritage. Her research is driven by a commitment to narrative change through social justice, racial equity, and artistic mastery. She has exhibited domestically and internationally. Most recently she has shown at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de UChile, Santiago, Chile; Frye Art Museum, Seattle; 32nd Biennial de Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain; ARCOmadrid Art Fair, Madrid, Spain and Material Art Fair, Mexico City. Dobler Dzul will be in residence from November 2026–August 2027.

Mary Duman is a ceramic and mixed-media artist who creates immersive environments that serve as ceremonial spaces for transformation. Working with clay and organic materials such as wood, wool, and horsehair, she constructs installations that invite embodied, contemplative experiences rooted in deep ecology and ritual process. She is currently an MFA candidate in Studio Art at California State University, Sacramento, and holds undergraduate degrees in ceramics and art education. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and she was recently awarded First Place in Off Center 2026: An International Ceramics Competition at Blue Line Arts. Duman will be in residence at the Verge Center for the Arts in Sacramento, CA, in summer 2026, and her prior residencies include the Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology Project in Cobb, CA; Vitra Ceramics Studio in Istanbul, Turkey; and the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN. In addition to her studio practice, she has over 23 years of experience as a ceramics and fine arts educator. Duman will be in residence at AMOCA from April–September 2026.

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