Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident (ASPN) 2021, Long-Term Resident 2025-2026
Anna Graef earned a BFA in ceramics at the Pennsylvania State University, and an MFA in ceramics at the University of Colorado Boulder. Anna has completed residencies including Red Lodge Clay Center’s ASPN residency, and at La Serra Collective in Denver, CO. Anna has taught workshops and courses across the country including at Harvard University, Penn State University, CU Boulder, and Colorado State University.
Garlic powder might begin as garlic, but it has a flavor profile all its own. Garlic powder is often considered a stand-in for the real thing when fresh garlic is unavailable. But in many households, the imitation becomes its own real thing, its own identifying marker, an essential particular taste in treasured heirloom-recipes and food-memories.
The objects I make are based on reality (snippets of experience, memory, curiosity). But they become their own originals as I process them through space and material.
I hope my excavation and celebration of the beauty, labor, intimacy, agency, and absurdity of our human experience inspires others to celebrate their own value, and to extend empathy to each other. Imagination is the essential first step to real-izing change.