Julia Galloway – Red Lodge Clay Center

Biography
Statement

Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident (ASPN Mentor) 2021, Workshop Presenter 2016

Julia Galloway is a utilitarian potter and professor. She is currently the Director of the School of Art and Professor at the University of Montana, Missoula. Julia was born and raised in Boston. She did her graduate studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, her BFA at New York State College of Art & Design at Alfred University and studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design as well as Massachusetts College of Art.

Julia has exhibited across the US, Canada, and Asia. Julia’s work is included in the collections of the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, Long Beach Art Museum, Long Beach CA, The Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT, The Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY, and The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Julia has served on the board of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. Her work has been published in Ceramics Monthly,Studio Potter, Art and Perception and Clay Times. She also is in “The Ceramic Spectrum”by Robin Hopper, “The Art of Contemporary Pottery” by Kevin Hulch, “Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artist and Objects”, and The Ceramic Continuum, Archie Bray Foundation. In addition, she has developed service based websites: “Montana Clay” and “the field guide for ceramics artisans“.

I am interested in pottery that is joyous; beautiful objects with meaning that weave into our daily lives through use. Pottery decorates our living spaces with character and elegance. Teapots celebrate our tea drinking ritual; a pitcher adorns the mantel when not in use; a mug with slight texture inside the handle allows our fingers to discover uniqueness. Pottery is a reflection and celebration of ourselves.

I always wonder, how am I nourished by where I live? I find utilitarian pottery the best method to express my ideas. Handmade pottery is naturally rich in ideas and metaphor; pottery seeps into our houses, our kitchens, and enriches our lives. Pottery weaves into our daily lives through use and decorates our living spaces with character and elegance; pottery is joyous. Pottery is a reflection of our reality, our fantasy and ourselves.

I make pottery out of porcelain clay. It is extremely sensitive and responsive to the human touch when it’s soft; when fired it becomes dense and strong. It is this responsive nature of clay that continues to interest me. It responds to your touch, then you respond to it. The same happens in the firing process with glaze materials and the atmosphere of the kiln. Clay is a supportive and demanding medium for the creative journey of making.

I am insistent about making things with my hands. The need for beautiful domestic objects and the instinctual drive to create things are tremendous dance partners for idea and desire. Utilitarian pottery supports and represents our intimate rituals of nourishment and celebration.

Julia GallowayMissoula, Montana