Meet Clay Art Center's Impressive 2022-23 Artists-In-Residence

PORT CHESTER, NY — The personalities of the Clay Art Center's newest artists-in-residence will make a lasting impression on the personality of the organization and the works of art it inspires.

From the Clay Art Center

For over six decades, artists have been advancing their careers at the Clay Art Center (CAC). This year marks the 25th anniversary of the CAC’s nationally recognized artist-in-residence program, started in 1998 by Director Emeritus Reena Kashyap. Through the generosity of donors, the residency program, which commences each year in September, is uniquely designed for emerging artists who need time and space to develop their voices. Since its inception, over 50 young emerging artists have called the Clay Art Center "home."

Residents gain invaluable experience working in a community environment, teaching classes, sharing their technical knowledge and expertise, and managing many jobs around the studio. Through a competitive process, these artists come to Port Chester from across the country and are now thriving in their careers around the globe. Many of the CAC's past residents have gone on to careers in the ceramics field as artists and educators, and many continue their relationship with the Clay Art Center through exhibition, shop and educational opportunities.

The 25th residency class will include Avery Wells (Rittenberg Artist-in-Residence), Jon Green, Anny Chen (Returning Artist-in-Residence) and Jess Levin (Westchester Community Fellow). The residents will work throughout the year on solo exhibitions which will be presented in the Clay Art Center gallery and online in the summer of 2023.

Resident Artist Bios
Avery Wells (Rittenberg Artist-in-Residence) received her MFA from SUNY New Paltz and also holds BAs in Art History and Ceramics from UNC Asheville. Her works have been exhibited in group shows and craft fairs through western North Carolina and the Hudson Valley. Wells' vessels and botanical sculptures explore feminine histories in the decorative arts and seek an alternate route away from traditional standards of beauty and craft. She will be teaching Introduction to Wheel Throwing, Pottery for Beginners and Surface Decoration, this fall.

Jon Green completed his BFA at the University of Montana with a minor in Art History, and worked as a studio assistant for Julia Galloway, Trey Hill, Casey Zablocki and Anton Alvarez. Green has attended Red Lodge Clay Center’s ASPN program, RLCC’s Long-term Residency, as well as an Artist in Residency at Medalta. His work pays homage to the craftspeople and merging customs of the Americas through aggrandizing objects and ornamentation. Green will be teaching Introduction to Wheel Throwing, Pottery for Beginners, Introduction to Handbuilding and Handbuilding for All Levels this fall.

Anny Chen (Returning Artist-in-Residence) holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and has studied at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China. She has been a studio tech at BKLYN CLAY. Her wheel thrown and handbuilt stools are influenced by traditional Chinese ceramic craft practices, the history of functional pottery and the domestic setting. Through her work, Anny questions what it means to belong to a family, a community or a place. She was born in NYC and was raised in Nowata, Oklahoma interspersed with visits back to her ancestral home in Fuzhou, China. She will be teaching Wheel for All Levels, Intermediate Wheel: Throwing Bigger and Intermediate Wheel: Thrown & Altered this fall.

Jess Levin (Westchester Community Fellow) earned a BFA from the State University of New York at Purchase, NY, concentrating in ceramics with hints of fabrics to show the balance between the soft and the fragile. They use a bright, colorful, cartoonish sculpting style to bring to life a narrative of self-exploration and expression. Levin will be teaching as part of the CAC's community arts program with focus on afterschool clay classes for the Port Chester community.

The Westchester Community Foundation (WCF) has been funding the Westchester Community Fellowship since it began in 2011. This fellowship was made possible by the Westchester Community Foundation, a division of The New York Community Trust. Westchester Community Foundation’s mission is to connect generous people to the causes they care about and invest in transformative ideas and organizations to improve lives and strengthen the community. WCF is a division of The New York Community Trust, one of the largest community foundations in the country, with assets of approximately $3 billion.

UPCOMING: 25th Anniversary Celebration Exhibition: Homecoming March 3 – April 10, 2023

Homecoming celebrates the 25th anniversary Year of the Artist-in-Residence Program at the Clay Art Center. The artists in this exhibition represent the continuum of the program through their ongoing individual development and journeys as ceramicists. This exhibition will provide visitors with an opportunity to survey them collectively.

UPCOMING: Concurrent Artist-in-Residence Exhibitions
June 22 – August 4, 2023
Avery Wells, Jon Green & Jess Levin will share the culmination of their work throughout
the year in solo exhibitions in the Clay Art Center Gallery.

Clay Art Center is a nationally recognized non-profit center for the advancement and practice of
ceramic arts offering exhibitions, clay classes for adults and children, studio spaces for clay
artists and outreach programs in the community. It is located in the heart of Port Chester at 40
Beech Street. Find more information about the Clay Art Center's for virtual & in-person classes or shop online at their website.

This release is from the Clay Art Center. The views expressed here are the author’s own.