Artist: Sarah Chenoweth Davis

Sarah Chenoweth Davis, PENNSYLVANIA

My creative practice is rooted in an effort to explore, encourage, and facilitate intimacy, an elusive yet familiar state of being, craved by all, feared by many, yet necessary for a lush life. True intimacy is achieved through a hard-won connection, the result of openness, vulnerability, and trust. It is my hope that the objects I create and the experiences I facilitate pave the way for connectivity, thereby enhancing personal well-being, strengthening relationships, and building community.

I am a potter. However, I did not grow up using handmade pots, nor do I expect others to fill their cupboards with cups and plates and bowls individually made by identifiable artisans. I make hand-held works of art as an expression of personal value and a subversive tactic toward changing the fabric of our society. Seeking to combat convenience in favor of experience, my vessels and pots exist as foils to technological interconnectivity and encourage intimacy through sensuous and haptic experience - be here, now. My pots are the pop of color in the room, and draw you in with jaunty, charming form. Once in the home, the setting for many of life’s most intimate moments, my values are revealed with use. Craftsmanship, refined details, and distinct textures intimate mindfulness, self-awareness, and intentionality. Playful patterns, lyrical lines, and curvaceous contours elicit careful exploration and moments of delight, detracting from stress and anxieties. All together, I design the work to ground the moment, visually and kinesthetically.

With joyful grace, charm, texture and wondrous detail, the work of Sarah Chenoweth Davis encourages intimacy and mindfulness through sensuous and haptic experience. A porcelain and pastry addict, Sarah grew up in the Midwest and earned an MFA in Applied Craft and Design from the Oregon College of Art and Craft and the Pacific Northwest College of Art and a BA in Biology from the College of Wooster, OH. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US and in Japan and has been featured in various publications including Ceramics Monthly, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, and the interactive e-book American i-Pottery. With a multifaceted history in curation, teaching, and organizing non-profit arts programming, Sarah most recently managed Eutectic Gallery in Portland, where she lived for 20 years before relocating to the Philadelphia area in 2021.

Education

2014

MFA, Applied Craft + Design

Oregon College of Art and Craft/Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR

1999

BA, Biology; Studio Art Minor

College of Wooster, Wooster, OH

Teaching & Workshops

2021-2022	Teaching Artist: The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA; Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown & Collingswood, NJ
2019	Altered Realities, Tandem Demo Workshop with Hanna Traynham; Portland Community College Rock Creek, Portland, OR
2017	Adjunct Instructor; Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Ceramics; Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, OR
	Visiting Workshop Instructor, Ceramics, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland,OR
2013	Graduate Teaching Assistant, Beginning Ceramics, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
2006-12	Ceramics Tutor, Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, OR (Certified Level 1 Tutor, College Reading and Learning Association)
2011	Visiting Artist Demonstration Workshop, George Fox University, Newberg, OR
2010	Visiting Artist Workshop Hands-on Demonstration, Advanced Ceramics Student Retreat Lakeridge High School, Menucha Retreat & Conference Center, Corbett, OR
	Guest Teacher, Marysville Elementary SUN Program, Portland, OR
2008	Workshop Instructor, Mt. Hood Community College Ceramics Club with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Gresham, OR
1999	Instructor, Beginning Ceramics (non-credit), College of Wooster, Wooster, OH

Related Professional Experience

2005-present	Owner, Artist; Sarah Chenoweth Davis Ceramics
2021-2022	Program Assistant, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
2017-2021	Gallery Manager, Eutectic Gallery, Portland, OR
2018	Project Coordinator, Gather:Make:Shelter, Dana Louis Studios, Portland, OR
2014 - 17	Production Specialist, Mudshark Studios, Portland, OR
2014	Studio Assistant, Dana Louis Studios, Portland, OR
	Studio Assistant, Whitney Lowe, Portland, OR
2013-14	Ceramics Shop Manager, Applied Craft + Design MFA Studio, Portland, OR
2010-12	Ceramics Technician, Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, OR
2000-02	Ceramics Studio Monitor, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta, GA

Professional Services

2019	Juror, Firing While Female, hosted by Ash Street Project, Portland, OR
2017	Guest Artist Presenter, American Pottery Festival, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
2016	Panelist,Wise Women in Clay, American Pottery Festival, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
	Guest Artist Presenter, American Pottery Festival, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
2015, -12, -11	Juror, Portland Metro Scholastic Art Awards

Awards, Fellowships, & Recognition

2018-present	Full-Time Sales Gallery Artist, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
2017	Entrepreneurial Fellowship, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
2012	Best in Show, Functional, Oregon Potters Association: Exposed, North Bank Artist Community Project, Vancouver, WA
	Featured Artist, Strictly Functional Pottery National promotional materials, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, PA

Memberships

2016 - 17	Member, LOCAL 14
2012	President, Oregon Potters Association
2009-12	Credit Sales Treasurer, Ceramic Showcase, Oregon Potters Association
2009-11	Board of Directors Secretary, Oregon Potters Association
2011	Vice President, Oregon Potters Association
2008	Board Member at Large, Oregon Potters Association

Curation

2017	Organizer, 10 Years in the Making, NCECA Concurrent Exhibition, Portland, Oregon
2013	Curatorial Intern, Object Focus: The Bowl, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR
2008	Curatorial Assistant, Painting with Fire, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, Lake Oswego, OR

Select Exhibitions **(* one- and two-person exhibitions)**

2021	*Gather:Make:Shelter*, Russo Lee Gallery, Portland, OR
2019	*Necessities, Eutectic Gallery, Portland, OR
2018	*Visual Arts Faculty Exhibit*, Visual Arts Center Gallery, Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, OR
	*SIP: A Ceramic Cup Show*, Whitefield Center Gallery, Savannah, GA
	40th Annual Celebration of Creativity, Invited Artist, Southminster Presbyterian Church, Beaverton, OR
	*Local 14 Show & Sale*, Guest Artist, Left Bank Annex, Portland, OR