Silver City, NM August 1, 2012 The inaugural Silver City Clay Festival kicks off three days of celebration for the Love of Clay with a myriad of events on First Friday downtown! 

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, August 3 through 5, are packed with Clay Festival workshops, demonstrations, lectures, films, tours, and sales and exhibits of clay art of all kinds. Bring your kids to play in clay, or make a clay bowl, or build a Silver City landmark in clay! Then join the First Friday fun yourself, dancing in the street and jiving to the music of the MudCats (a.k.a. Rodney and the Roadrunners). Pick up a detailed schedule of events at the Murray Ryan Visitor Center, or log on to www.clayfestival.com.

Also on First Friday from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, six Silver City galleries will be hosting the Clay Festival's Juried Art Tile Show openings. One hundred thirty (130) spectacular art tiles by fifty (50) tile artists from around the country and Canada will be displayed, with each gallery featuring a particular art tile theme. The galleries are: Art & Conversation Gallery, Blue Dome Gallery, Leyba & Ingalls Art, Lois Duffy Studio & Showroom, Seedboat Gallery, and Silver Spirit Gallery. Renowned ceramic artist Alfredo Ratinoff is juror of the Show, and awards to the Show's winning artists will be presented on Sunday, August 5, at 1:30 pm at Bear Mountain Lodge.

The Silver City Clay Festival is the brainchild of Lee Gruber, who has been the co-owner of Syzygy Tile for 18 years. “Having a good time, celebrating clay and educating the public in the ceramic arts is our goal,” says Gruber.