The Boneyard: The Ceramics Teaching Collection exhibition at the LSU Museum of Art

on view July 8, 2021–February 13, 2022

Inspired by the visiting artist tradition, The Boneyard: The Ceramics Teaching Collection presents the energy and legacy of ceramics demonstrations through bisqueware. Bisque refers to the state achieved after a wet clay demo is completed and then fired once. What remains is a porous, unglazed record of the visiting artist’s creative process that can be referenced year after year by professors and students. Included in this exhibition are over 200 bisque works that provide a valued resource for LSU School of Art’s top-ten ranked ceramics program. The ever-growing collection will be displayed at LSU MOA to imitate the classroom use of the boneyard. The “boneyard” refers to bisque works and how they are stored in studio spaces for teaching and ceramics demonstrations. It's known for its unique display on high shelves in the studio, with many bisque works together, showcasing a variety of techniques, improvisation, and skill. Faculty and instructors pull bisque objects from the shelves in order to highlight specific techniques and attributes of form, only to return the bisque back to the shelf so they can grab another set of objects.

This exhibition will feature rotating displays and a demonstration space that will be activated by MFA students, local artists, and visiting artists to allow museum visitors to share in the boneyard tradition—to watch clay transform and to see artist-specific techniques shared in the openness of the craft tradition. Artists featured: Andrew Martin, Kristen Kieffer, Jen Allen, Joanna Powell, Doug Peltzman, Lisa Orr, John Gill, Jeremy Brooks, Lauren Gallaspy, Kevin Snipes, Mike Jabbur, Mike Helke, Matt Mitros, Sam Chung, Matt Towers, Kim Dickey, Mary Louise Carter, Joe Bova, David Eichelberger, Matt Metz, Kensuke Yamada, Tip Toland, TJ Erdahl, Ryan Wilson Kelly, Jeremy Hatch, Jason Bige Burnett (additional artists may be added to this exhibition).

This exhibition is a collaboration between LSU Museum of Art and LSU School of Art and is curated by LSU Ceramics Associate Professor Andy Shaw, LSU MOA Curator Courtney Taylor, and LSU MOA Educator Grant Benoit.