APPRENTICESHIP SUMMARY

This ceramic-based apprenticeship will advance artist Ann McClellan’s knowledge of the medium through skill refinement and concept development. Ann is seeking to learn more about surface decoration and glazing techniques, as well as form-making skills and kiln firing. Ann is interested in expanding a professional network both within and beyond Maine. Lynn and Ann will spend 100 hours of one-on-one training in the artist’s studios, as well as scheduled visits to relevant ceramic artists’ studios.

MENTOR

Lynn Duryea (South Portland, ME)

Professor Emerita of Art at Appalachian State University in Boone NC, Lynn Duryea was a studio artist working in Maine before earning a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida. She now works in Maine full-time, in South Portland and on Deer Isle.

Lynn is a Founding Trustee of Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and was the Program Coordinator and Artist-in-Residence for The Watershed Workshop for People with HIV/AIDS. She is a co-founder of Sawyer Street Studios, an artist-owned ceramic facility in South Portland. She was a recipient of the Maine Crafts Association 2012 Master Craft Award, and was the first visual artist to receive Portland, Maine’s YWCA Women of Achievement Award. Lynn was an Emerging Artist at the 2004 NCECA Conference (National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts). She has received grants from Appalachian State’s University Research Council and the university’s Foundation Fellows, the Maine Arts Commission and Watauga County Arts Council.

Lynn’s work is represented in numerous publications including Ceramics Art + Perception, “The Poetics of Space and Place: Lynn Duryea’s Sculpture”, essay by Jim Toub; Discovery: Fifty Years of Craft and Transformation at Haystack, Carl Little, ed.; Dry Glazes by Jeremy Jernegan and a cover article by Glen Brown in Ceramics Monthly, “Lynn Duryea: The Energy of Edges.” Lynn’s work has been exhibited widely and collected extensively. Group shows include the 2016 Maine Biennial at Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland ME, Contemporary New England Ceramics at the Currier Museum of Art, Manchester NH, and International Emerging Ceramic Artists Invitational Exhibition, FuLe International Ceramic Art Museums, Fuping, Xian, CHINA. Her work is in the museum’s permanent collection.

“The timing is right for Ann to be a CAP apprentice, as she shifts to focus more fully on her studio practice after a career of combining her work with teaching. As someone who made a significant shift in my work by going to graduate school at age 52, I can appreciate Ann’s desire and drive. Although we hadn’t met previously, it was apparent to me that Ann was thoughtful in her choice of a mentor and clear in her goals. She came prepared to our first meeting. Ann’s dedication to her practice is evident in her history of apprenticeships, workshops and continued professional development..” – Lynn Duryea

APPRENTICE

Ann McClellan (Camden, ME)

Ann McClellan creates functional and decorative ceramic wares. Trained in Karatsu, Japan, she exhibited nationally and was awarded the Iwataya Prize in the Western Japan Arts and Crafts show. Her conceptual pieces, Family, recognizing familial roles that were often denied enslaved people and Reaching for Freedom, are on permanent display at Reynolds Homestead, Virginia Tech University. McClellan is currently represented by Carver Hill Gallery. She shares a studio and home with her collaborative partner Billy Ray Sims, a basket maker, in Camden, Maine.

“My proposal for Lynn Duryea as a mentor is sincere and deliberate. She is an accomplished artist and educator with established clay community relationships. She is a Founding Trustee of Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts and co-owner of Sawyer Street Studios. She values creativity with clay. In particular, of significance, I appreciate her aesthetic in the palette and form of her slab-built works. Also, Lynn’s experiences demonstrate she has the temperament to get along with others.” – Ann McClellan