What to Expect When the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts Conference Lands in Baltimore Next Year? Baltimoreans Share their Experiences from this Year’s Edition in Detroit
Published by: BmoreArt
Words by: Sarah McCann
On March 24th 7,100 ceramics experts, enthusiasts, and others landed in Detroit for the five-day National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Conference. NCECA is an annual event that brings together knowledge, a wide breadth of ceramic art and artists, and clay lovers of all kinds. NCECA is coming to Baltimore in 2027, and we should be very excited.
The conference presents talks, workshops, demonstrations, and exhibitions in the host city’s convention center, but the activities and celebration of ceramic art expand far beyond. According to Joshua Green, NCECA’s executive director, about 85 ceramic art exhibitions in the greater Detroit region were developed concurrently with the conference, but that number does not include countless smaller pop-up exhibitions and events planned to coincide with the official ones.
The sheer amount of everything ceramics is overwhelming and it can be hard to know where to begin. The expo features vendors selling kilns, tools, materials of all kinds, and publications. Ceramic art centers, undergraduate and graduate programs, and other organizations also table the event. Before entering the ticketed conference, the Gallery Expo and Emerging Artist installations are free and open to the public—and stand out as highlights of the conference.
