Professor Carolyn Ford To Be Featured As Guest Artist In Arizona

Limestone College Professor of Art Carolyn Ford has been invited as a guest artist at Mission Clay Art and Industry in Phoenix.

Ford will be spending a week as a visiting artist in Arizona. While there, she will be carving her "Southernisms" series on monumental extruded ceramic pipes. In exchange for the week of creation, her work will become part of Mission's permanent art collection.

Mission Clay Arts and Industry provides an unparalleled environment for the creative process and the development of new work and ideas. A program for artists to engage with the industrial ceramic fabrication process, Mission offers opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and exchange that builds understanding and appreciation for the role of art in the world.

“I am honored to be invited to take on a tremendous project and hope to prove my abilities for a future residency,” Ford said. “Having the option to use large pipe extrusions will take my art from a gallery wall setting into the public art realm not achievable with our small kilns. The Mission Clay Arts beehive kiln is 34,000 cubic feet. I remember taking my students to a conference in Kansas City and being wowed by the large sculptures by some of the artists who have created works while at Mission Clay, including Jun Kaneko’s ‘dangos.’

“I often tell my students that art is a community,” she continued. “As fellow mentor Pat Siler encouraged me to apply, I too hope to open doors for my students. Thanks to the support of Limestone President Dr. Darrell Parker and the administration, opportunities like this represent University-level scholarly research. I would also like to thank Bryan Vansell, Pat Siler, and Hans Miles for the invitation and chance to take on such a fantastic challenge. I hope to carve until I drop so that I can visit again to collaborate on bigger projects.”

Ford has been a faculty member at Limestone since 2003 and has been serving as Department Chair since 2010. Her works are featured at the Asheville Art Museum's inaugural exhibit “Appalachia Now!” which is on display until February 2020.