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Bill Griffith receives 2018 NCECA Outstanding Achievement Award


  bill griffith
Bill Griffith in the studio. Image courtesy of Arrowmont

GATLINBURG, TN - Bill Griffith, Arrowmont’s current outreach and partnership liaison, received the 2018 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Outstanding Achievement Award earlier with month. The Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes individuals who have successfully completed a body of work that has contributed to the field of ceramic arts in an extraordinary way. Bill Griffith was honored for his work at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and his overall influence in the field of ceramics.

“Over the thirty years that Bill Griffith has been a part of Arrowmont he has been responsible for many innovative programs and important initiatives, but it is his humanity, his appreciation of craft and love of people that have made his contributions sing,” explained Bill May, Executive Director, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

In 1991, Bill founded the Arrowmont Artists-in-Residency Program, which provides early-career self-directed artists time, space and support to develop a new body of work in a creative supportive community. Since its inception, 120 artists have completed the year long residency. The professional impact of the AIR Program on the field of ceramics is significant. One-third of past resident artists currently teach ceramics and other disciplines in prestigious university art departments throughout the United States and Canada. Other innovative educational endeavors have grown out of the Arrowmont AIR Program. ArtReach, a partnership initiative with local schools provides hands on studio workshops for 1200 students, grades 4th-12th each year. Resident Artists teach the ArtReach workshops, translating to far-reaching influence in the lives of these young people — the students and the resident artists alike.

Bill designed and directed the first Utilitarian Clay: Celebrate the Object National Symposium in 1992. Offered every 4 years over the past 25 years, the Symposium highlights the work of renowned ceramic artists and emerging potters. Utilitarian Clay Symposium has launched the careers of many current leaders in the ceramic field.

During his administrative career at Arrowmont, Bill has also maintained a national reputation as a ceramic artist, educator, juror and curator. He is a recipient of an Individual Artists Fellowship awarded by the Tennessee Arts Commission. His work is included in private collections and the Tennessee State Museum, the Arkansas Arts Center, the City of Orlando, Florida Permanent Collection, San Angelo Museum of Art, TX, the Haan Museum of Indiana Art, the Tokoname Cultural Museum, Japan and the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, China.

An Honors and Awards ceremony took place earlier this month at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 52nd annual NCECA conference.

Published April 2, 2018







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