Application Deadline: Friday, September 27 by 11:59pm

Notification of Acceptance: Friday, October 25

Work Due in the Gallery: Friday, December 13

“Brute force crushes many plants. Yet the plants rise again. The Pyramids will not last a moment compared with the daisy.” ~ D.H. Lawrence
 
Throughout art history, gardens have been depicted as settings for mythological narratives, allegorical representations, and introspective meditations on the human condition. A symbol of growth, renewal, and the passage of time, gardens express the strong will of nature as well as the human compulsion to contain it. A place for contemplation, introspection, and escapism, the garden often offers an escape from the chaos of the outside world.

This national juried exhibition will showcase ceramic artists who draw inspiration from the ubiquitous garden. Wild and tame, exotic and sweet, foreign and familiar, resilient and vulnerable, the garden is a sacred space of botanical dreams, natural beauty, and the cycle of life, producing abundant metaphors for all kinds of thoughts, feelings, and narratives, human or otherwise. 
 
For this exhibition we seek sculpture, wall work, utilitarian works, and installations that explore all that is, in, and around the garden.

Juror: Leigh Taylor Mickelson

Leigh Taylor Mickelson, a resident of Ossining, NY, is an artist and independent consultant with 24 years of experience in nonprofit arts management and program development. Her ceramic sculpture is inspired by forms from nature, especially ones found in plant life, as a means of expressing narratives about life. Being full of dichotomy, the elements of natural forms act as a metaphor for the spiritual, emotional and physical extremes that exist within ourselves, our love relationships and our family units. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and English Literature from Hamilton College, and received her MFA in Ceramic Sculpture from Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Crafts.  Mickelson has had several articles published in various publications and catalogs, has taught ceramics and workshops across the east coast and exhibits her own work widely across the nation.  She started her consulting business LTM Arts Consulting in 2019 after 22 years of experience in program development and nonprofit arts management with two arts nonprofits. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring her perspective and skills to other arts businesses and nonprofits who are looking to increase their impact and vibrancy in the community.