Cooks even got in on the action at the Silver City Clay Festival in a Mud Pie Contest at the Farmers' Market. No the main ingredient was not mud from the backyard, but chocolate, and no one can resist a chocolate concoction. Three judgestuyj worked their way through five dessert delicacies and came up with the winners of the event.
Judges were attorney TomStewart, Town Councilor Polly Cook, and David DelJunco, co-owner of Syzygy Tileworks, with his wife Lee Gruber, who came up with the idea for the clay festival and organized it.
Kids had the option of building things with clay, not only in front of Art and Conversation, but also at the Murray Hotel, where demonstrations and vendors had set up for the festival.
In addition to everything else that was going on, two juried clay exhibitions were also featured. One for art tiles was on display at galleries throughout downtown Silver City. The second, a Neo-Mimbreño exhibition was shown at the Western New Mexico University Museum.
A popular event were the hour-long lectures by Texas A&M University Professor Harry Shafer, who, as the archaeologist in charge of the NAN excavation in the Mimbres for more than 30 years, gave an overview of the history of Mimbres pottery. The NAN Ranch Collection is now housed at the WNMU museum, where it will be available for viewing and research by credentialed scientists.
Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
Silver City Clay Festival - more
Silver City Clay Festival-more photos
A Mud Pie Contest took place at the Farmers' Market on Saturday as part of the Silver City Clay Festival. Above, back row, Sue Been, who won third place for her Backyard Mud Pie, Renate Heygster, contest helper, Kyle Johnson, who served as emcee for the contest, and Christine Stewart, also a contest helper. Judges are, from left, Tom Stewart, Polly Cook and David DelJunco.
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Silver City Clay Festival - more photos
The Mud Pie Contest judges dig into the processG??from left, Tom Stewart, Polly Cook and David DelJunco.
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Silver City Clay Festival - more photos
Kids could build items out of clay in front of Art and Conversation in downtown Silver City. From left, Gavin Chuy, 6, Samantha Unger, 6, and Megan Chuy, 8, get their hands dirty.
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Silver City Clay Festival - more photos
Three young fellows collaborated on construction in clay of a dinosaur. They are, from left, Benjamin Munson, 7, Jaxon Unger, 8, and Daniel Mahl, 9.
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Silver City Clay Festival - more photos
Lots of kids dig into fresh clay to let their imaginations create a clay-based artwork.
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Silver City Clay Festival - more photos
One of the sites for the Juried Art Tile show was Art and Conversation.
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Silver City Clay Festival - more photos
Another site for the Juried Art Tile show was Lois Duffy Art.
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Silver City Clay Festival - more photos
Randy Carr, as Deputy Dan Tucker, previews hiw one-person play about the history of Silver City. He will be performing the entire work the weekend of Aug. 11-12.
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Silver City Clay Festival - more photos
Harry Shafer, Texas A&M professor, who was in charge of the NAN Ranch excavation in the Mimbres for more than 30 years, gave an overview of the history and evolution of the pottery created by the Mimbre+?o culture.
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