AMOCA Announces New Artists in Residence

(California, April 12, 2022)—The American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) announced today five artists in residence for 2022–2023 (in order of arrival): Amy Santoferraro of Pomona, CA; Nick Vest of Jingdezhen, China; Christopher Suarez of Long Beach, CA; Breana Ferreira of Denton, TX; and Kim Tucker of Los Angeles, CA.

Beth Ann Gerstein, Executive Director of AMOCA, commented: “The Artist in Residence program at the AMOCA Ceramics Studio provides time, space, and support for emerging, mid-career, and established artists to expand their creative work. It is a vital part of the museum’s commitment to contemporary artistic practices, and a critical component of our effort to bring diverse and accomplished artistic voices to the City of Pomona. This year, thanks to enhanced support from the Windgate Foundation, there are new residencies available for artists based in Southern California. On behalf of our partners, donors, members, staff, and our current artists-in-residence Kirstin Willders and Colby Charpentier, I’m thrilled to extend a warm welcome to the 2022–2023 cohort of ceramic artists.”

Launched in 2012, AMOCA’s Artist in Residence program is one of the few long-term fellowship opportunities for ceramic artists on the West Coast. Located an hour from the desert, mountains, and beaches of Southern California and forty minutes east of Los Angeles, the residency space provides artists an opportunity to produce or develop a new body of work while also participating in AMOCA’s programs. The shorter residency opportunities for artists commuting from Southern California locales, new this year, are designed to encourage artistic exchange with artists visiting from other parts of the world.

The Artist in Residence program at the AMOCA Ceramics Studio is made possible with support from the Windgate Foundation, Julianne and David Armstrong, and the Laguna Clay and Glaze Company. 

2022-2023 AMOCA Artists in Residence
(in order of arrival)

Amy Santoferraro, born in Akron, Ohio, received her MFA in Ceramic Art from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, in Alfred, New York; she earned her BAE in Art Education and her BFA in Ceramics from The Ohio State University. She was the ceramics Area Coordinator and an Assistant Professor of Art at Kansas State University and a visiting Instructor in Residence at Oregon College of Arts and Craft in Portland, Oregon. Santoferraro recently completed the Joan and David Lincoln Visiting Professorship at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.

Santoferraro has previously been a summer resident and studio manager at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine and now and now serves as trustee. She enjoyed residencies at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Through a partnership between the McKnight Foundation and The Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Santoferraro was awarded a McKnight Residency Grant for Ceramic Artists. She lives in Pomona, California. Santoferraro will be in residence at AMOCA May–August 2022.

Nick Vest, born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, received his MFA from Kansas State University and his BFA from Alfred University. He has been Ceramic Kiln Technician and Instructor of Ceramics at Kansas State University and a Lecturer at Jingdezhen Ceramic University. Vest has been resident artist at Shangyu Celadon Modern International Ceramic Art Center; the Gaya Ceramic Art Center in Bali, Indonesia; and the Quiong Lai Ceramic Center in Sichuan, China. He established a personal studio in Jingdezhen, China, in 2016.

In 2018, he opened the MenLo Gallery and Studio in Jingdezhen, which aims to celebrate the risk-taking and innovative work of young Chinese artists, as well as to offer non-traditional ceramic artists from abroad residency and exhibition opportunities. He currently lives in Jingdezhen, where he continues his artistic practice and runs MenLo with his wife, ceramic artist Zhou YuYe. Vest will be in residence at AMOCA July 2022–March 2023.

Christopher Suarez, born in Long Beach, California, received his BFA in Ceramic Arts from California State University, Long Beach, where he studied with Tony Marsh and Christopher Miles. Suarez has served as the Lead ArtsBridge Teacher at the California State University, Long Beach and as an Education Intern at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles.

Suarez was awarded a Summer 2021 residency at Township 10 in western North Carolina. His ceramic tableaus recreate neighborhood buildings—laundromats, convenience stores, taquerias—from his hometown of Long Beach, and explore the relationship between personal histories and urban environments. Suarez lives in Long Beach, California and will be in residence at AMOCA September–December 2022.

Breana Ferreira, born in Riverside, California, is a first generation student studying ceramics at the University of North Texas. Breana has been active in the competitive ceramics community, winning the grand prize at the 2020 and 2021 NCECA Skutt Student Competition, showing as a finalist in the ICAN 2nd Annual Holiday Cup Show, and competing in the 2022 Saltstone Ceramics Mug Madness competition. Her work has been featured at the 2021 Texas CAMEO Emerging Artist Show, at the 29th Strictly Functional Pottery National show, and in Ceramics Monthly magazine.

Ferreira is a short-term work-exchange artist in residence at the home studio of Brooks Oliver and has been the Studio Manager, Production Assistant, and Ceramics Instructor at Kendall Davis Clay since the summer of 2020. She will graduate with a BFA in Ceramics from the University of North Texas in May of 2022. Ferreira currently lives in Denton, Texas and will be in residence at AMOCA September 2022–August 2023.

Kim Tucker, born in Hollywood, California, holds a MFA in Ceramics​ from The Ohio State University in Columbus and a BFA in Ceramics​ from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. Her work has been exhibited nationally and is included in AMOCA’s permanent collection. Tucker’s ceramics have been reviewed in the Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times, Artscene, Art Ltd, L.A. Weekly, and on Los Angeles public radio station KCRW.

Tucker has previously held residencies at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California; Belden Brick Factory​ in Sugarcreek, Ohio; Mount Saint Mary’s University​ in Los Angeles, California; FUTUR Artist Residency in Rapperswil, Switzerland; and the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts​ in Newcastle, Maine. Tucker lives in Los Angeles, California and will be in residence at AMOCA January–April 2023. 

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Images

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Amy Santoferraro

Breana Ferreira

Christopher Suarez

Nick Vest

Kim Tucker