Artist: Lane Chapman

Lane Chapman, MONTANA
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ARTIST BIO

Hailing from small town Arkansas, Lane Chapman started out as a painter until she transitioned into clay in college. She received her BFA in Ceramics from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2017. Originally from Arkansas, she earned her BFA in Ceramics from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2017. She has completed residencies at the Flower City Arts Center in Rochester, NY, The Clay Studio of Missoula, Wildfire Ceramic Studio in Missoula , and OpenAIR, also in Missoula. Lane will graduate with her MFA from University of Montana in May of 2026.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My practice is rooted in ecological grief and the tangled history of human attempts to control nature. Through sculpture and pottery, I create objects that speak to birds, plants, and landscapes shaped by human intervention. Drawing on Victorian traditions of adorning domestic spaces with nature, my work creates tension between the celebration of beauty and the realities of environmental harm.
Ceramics—both enduring and fragile—becomes a metaphor for nature itself: resilient, yet vulnerable. Working with coil and pinch techniques, I leave visible traces of my hand, acknowledging my own complicity in altering the natural world. Surface imagery and sculptural details reference contamination and coexistence, embedding these narratives into functional forms.
By bridging historical aesthetics with contemporary environmental concerns, my work invites reflection on our shared ecological future. It holds space for the uneasy truth that beauty and devastation coexist, and that mourning the natural world can be an act of reverence.

EDUCATION

2023-2026 University of Montana Master of Fine Arts

2013-2017 University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bachelor of Fine Arts, Emphasis in Ceramics

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

ART HANDLER Montana Museum of Art and Culture (2023 - present)

• move museum’s collection to new storage space
  
• accessioning/cataloging artwork
  
• install/deinstall exhibitions

SPECIMEN PREPARATOR Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum (2024 - present)

• record data pertaining to bird specimen
  
• identify specifics of bird, i.e. molt, age, species, gender
  
• prepare bird skin for research collection

TEACHER OF RECORD University of Montana (2023 - 2025)

Instruct and grade for the following classes:

• History of Photography, online
  
• Ceramics for Non-Majors, in person
  
• Ceramics 1, in person
  
• Visual Language: Drawing, in person

CERAMIC INSTRUCTOR Throw Ceramic Studio (2023)

• taught wheel-throwing and hand-building classes
  
• led specific technique workshops
  
• taught one day “try it” classes
  
• gave glaze demos and fired student work

Artist in Residence 

2024 OpenAIR & The Clark Fork Coalition | Missoula, MT

2021-2022 Wildfire Ceramic Studio | Missoula, MT

2019-2021 The Clay Studio of Missoula | Missoula, MT

2017-2019 Flower City Arts Center | Rodchester, NY

PUBLICATIONS & AWARDS

September 2021 Issue of Ceramics Monthly,
“Lane Chapman: A Powerful Touch”

2026 University of Montana Sustainability
Award for Bird Safe Campus Project

GALLERY REPRESENTATION

• Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT
  
• Charlie Cummings Gallery, Online
  
• Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT
  
• The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT
  
• Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT
  
• Flower City Arts Center, Rochester, NY

GUEST LECTURES & WORKSHOPS

2025

• Artist talk, Extracting Reverence, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
  
• Artist talk for MINE: Excavating Ecologies, Butte-Silverbow Archives, Butte, MT
  
• Panel talk for MINE: Excavating Ecologies, Missoula Public Library, Missoula, MT
  
• Workshop assistant for Sculpting Birds with Sarah Conti, Pocosin Arts, Pocosin, NC

2024

• Pre-candidacy review, Consecrate, Knowles Gallery, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
  
• Artist talk, Collaborative Waters, Butte Arts Conference with OpenAIR, Historic Clark Chateau, Butte, MT

2023

• Online workshop, Hand-built Cups and Illustrative Surfaces, Pocosin Arts

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2026

• Ecology of Mourning, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Gallery of Arts, University of Montana, Missoula, MT

2024

• Consecrate, Knowles Gallery, Fine Arts Building, University of Montana, Missoula, MT

2023

• Stick a Pin In It, The Clay Studio of Missoula, MT
  
• Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?, The Flower City Arts Center, Rochester, NY

JURIED EXHIBITIONS

2023

• 29th Annual Juried Student Show, Gallery of Arts, University of Montana, Missoula, MT

2022

• Women of the West, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT

2020

• Plasticity, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT
  
• 28th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Virtual Exhibition

2019

• Wall-to-Wall: Third Annual Members Exhibition, The Flower City Arts Center, Rochester, NY
  
• 11th Annual Beyond the Brickyard, The Archie Bray, Helena, MT

2018

• No Man’s Land, Politits Art Coalition, The Yards Collective, Rochester, NY
  
• Twin Cups National Ceramics Exhibition, MWSU Clay Guild, St. Joseph, MO

INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

2025

• Montana Made, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT
  
• MINE: Excavating Ecologies, The Missoula Public Library in Missoula, MT and Butte-Silverbow Archives, Butte, MT

2024

• Birds! Birds! II, Online, Charlie Cummings Gallery
  
• The Functional Canvas IX, Online, Charlie Cummings Gallery

2023

• Cup: The Intimate Object XIX, Online, Charlie Cummings Gallery
  
• Montana Clay Tour, Tara Wilson’s Studio, Helena, MT
  
• How to Build a Garden City, Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT
  
• Flower Power, Flower City Arts Center, Rochester, NY
  
• In the Zone, The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT

2022

• Year of the Rabbit: Lunar New Year Collection, Song Tea & Ceramics, San Francisco, CA
  
• MudTies Virtual Show & Sale
  
• Still Life, Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, AR

2021

• The Cup Show, Worcester Center for Crafts, Worcester, MA
  
• CLAYFEST, Saratoga Clay Arts Center, Schuylerville, NY
  
• Sheep-ish, virtual exhibition, Good Habit Pottery Company, Milwaukee, WI

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025

• Euphoria, Bob’s Your Uncle Gallery, Missoula, MT
  
• Burn After Making, The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT

2024

• Eight is a Crowd, The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT

2023

• Paths Crossed, The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT

2022

• 2nd Annual 406 Cup Show, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT
  
• Currents in Clay, The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT
  
• Conflux: A Showcase of Wildfire Ceramic Studio Artists, Zootown Community Arts Center, Missoula, MT
  
• 2nd Annual High Fire Show, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT

2021

• Holiday Show, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT
  
• Wildfire Ceramic Studio Showcase, Missoula Airport, Missoula, MT
  
• 1st Annual 406 Cup Show, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT
  
• Artist-in-Residence Exhibition, Clay Studio of Missoula, Trackside Gallery, Spokane, WA
  
• 1st Annual High Fire Show, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT

2020

• Holiday Show & Sale, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT
  
• Holiday Show & Sale, The Clay Studio of Missoula, MT
  
• Currents, The Clay Studio of Missoula, MT

2018

• The Ecology of Relationships, The Flower City Arts Center, Rochester, NY