The Bemidji Community Art Center is proud to announce the opening of the 9th Annual It’s Only Clay National Juried Exhibit featuring a lecture and workshop with our 2011 Juror, Guillermo Cuellar and the opening reception for IOC 2011.
Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela in 1951 Guillermo Cuellar studied ceramics at Cornell College in Mt.Vernon, Iowa where he graduated with a B.A. in Art in 1976. After working as an environmentalist he returned to pottery in 1980. In 1986 he set up a studio in the village of Turgua, an hour southeast of the capital city, Caracas, where he made pots for the following 18 years.
Platter by Guillermo Cuellar
In 1981 he worked as an assistant to Warren MacKenzie, who was teaching in Caracas. Subsequently he regularly shared studio experience with MacKenzie inStillwater, Minnesota, from 1984 to 2006. Guillermo’s experience includes teaching workshops inVenezuela and Chile and participating in the organization and execution of workshops given by international guest potters in Venezuela.
His work has been on display in the Venezuelan National Art Gallery, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas Sofia Imber, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, The Smithsonian Institution, Northern Clay Center, Mashiko Municipal Pottery Art Museum and private galleries in Minnesota, the United States, England, Venezuela and Chile.
In 1992 Guillermo brought a group of potters together to found Grupo Turgua, a non-profit association of artisans dedicated to the support of good craft inVenezuela. Grupo Turgua hosted twenty-eight group sales with from 1992 to 2005 offering Venezuelan native crafts and other creative work.
Guillermo at work in Studio
In 2005 Guillermo and his family, established a home, studio and showroom in the upper St. Croix River valley near Shafer, Minnesota, where he is currently making pots and participates as one of seven host studios on the Minnesota Potters of the Upper St. Croix Valley Annual Pottery Tour.
Join us on Wed November 2nd at 7pm for the IOC community lecture. Cuellar will trace his personal history fromVenezuela to Minnesota and explore how the physical surroundings, sound examples of hand-made crafts, and a spirit of community have influenced his work and enriched his life. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be hosted at the Headwaters School of Music and the Arts,519 Minnesota Ave, Downtown Bemidji.
The workshop – Techniques For Wheel Thrown Utilitarian Pots will be hosted on the Campus of Bemidji State University on Nov. 3 thru 4.
The Opening Reception for IOC 2011 Exhibit will be at the BemidjiCommunityArtCenteron Friday Nov 4th from 5 to 7pm with a brief presentation and awards announcement by Butch Holden and Cuellar at 6pm. This event is a part of the November First Friday Art walk and free and open to the public.
IOC 2011 is cosponsored by the BCAC and the BSU Visual Arts Department. Support is provided by Holiday Inn Express Bemidji and the BSU Ceramics Club. This activity is also made possible, in part, by a grant provided by the Region 2 Arts Council through funding from the Minnesota State Legislature.
For more information regarding this program go to IOC 2011
