(All photos courtesy of the CLAY Festival)
Top photo: CLAY Festival Exhibit and Reception
Middle photo: Claude W. Smith, III, Silver City artist
Bottom photo: Roxanne Swentzell, Santa Clara Pueblo artist
A spirited and fun-loving community celebration of all things clay, Silver City's fourth annual CLAY Festival is underway this year from July 27 through August 2, offering multi-day workshops, artist demonstrations and receptions, an international juried exhibition, guided tours, Conversations in Clay lectures, music, dancing, films, yoga, a mud pie contest, outdoor events, youth activities, a poker tournament, a mural dedication, a CLAY Gala Fundraiser, and a CLAYfest Market that features clay-centric vendors. Most events are free and geared to the general public.
CLAY Festival 2015-a New Mexico TRUE event-brings together artists, families, young people, adventurers, educators, entrepreneurs, and life-long learners to experience and explore all things clay. This year's major participants include renowned Santa Clara Pueblo ceramic sculptor Roxanne Swentzell, famed Pennsylvania potter Jack Troy, Ancestral Puebloan archaeology expert Dr. Eric Blinman, and Mexican husband-and-wife potters Carla MartÃnez Vargas and Diego Valles, plus other prominent personalities in the field. Workshop topics range from raku firing to salt glazing, rendering clay vessels in paint to replicating prehistoric forms-and more.
The CLAY Festival is unique in its recognition of the crucial role that such a simple, humble, and versatile material plays in the art and culture of New Mexico. No place or people in the state are untouched by adobe, mud, fired brick, terra cotta, ceramics and other permutations of clay. This is-both literally and figuratively-the common ground of our people and the embodiment of New Mexico's past, present, and future. Silver City was founded in 1870 and is nestled against the 3.3-million acres of the Gila National Forest. This quirky art town of about 10,000 residents shines in its artistic and culinary offerings while boasting historical ties with Billy the Kid, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and Geronimo as well as the world's third-largest open pit copper mine. It is designated as a "tile hub" by the Tile Heritage Foundation in recognition of its contributions to the legacy and artistry of ceramic tile. Silver City's Historic Downtown District is home to more than a dozen restaurants, scores of murals, and thirty-plus galleries and artist studios. Perched in the mountains at 6,000 feet, the town's summer monsoons enliven a lush landscape and provide a welcome escape from typical Southwestern desert heat.