Jane Shellenbarger was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1964. She was a CORE student at Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina from 1987-1989. Jane received her B.F.A. degree from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Following graduate school, she was a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT 1996-97. She established her studio pottery, Mill Station Pottery, in rural Hale, Michigan in 1997. She was an Assistant Professor at the Kansas City Art Institute. She currently is an Assistant Professor at Northern Michigan University. She has also taught at Penland School of Crafts, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and the University of Northern Iowa. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, and The University Museum, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
I am interested in the connection between the hand and eye and memory. My work focuses on a vessel aesthetic. The pieces are thrown and altered with highly personal surface treatments. While function continues to be an essential concern, I am intrigued with the ability of pots to transcend themselves as objects and convey the information of other eras and cultures. I work in both porcelain and stoneware clays, firing with atmospheric kilns to a high temperature. Often the pieces undergo multiple firings, or are enameled and sandblasted to achieve a depth of surface. The intimate and tactile nature of pots creates the ability to connect people like no other object. There is a need to keep these interactions vital. The rhythm of making pots is, for me, an endless pursuit to express ideas and define interactions through form.
Born: September 10, 1964; Detroit, Michigan
Education: Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO; B.F.A. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL; M.F.A.
Selected Exhibitions:
upcoming: Solo Exhibition, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA, 2005
2005 Lacoste Gallery, American Crafts, Concord, MA
2004 Clay Invitational 2004, Jan Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Teapots: Object to Subject, Invitational, Curated by Leslie Ferrin, Craft Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2003 Contemporary Teapots, Invitational, Leslie Ferrin Gallery, SOFA Chicago, Chicago, IL
Studio Pottery Invitational, Curated by Leslie Ferrin, Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, MA
30 x 5: Contemporary Ceramics Collection, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Old Church Cultural Center Show and Sale, Karen Karnes Invitational, Demarest, NJ
Linear Qualities of Form, Solo Exhibition, Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, MA
Snowbirds, An Exhibition featuring Ceramic artists whose pots reference the Mingei Tradition, Santa Fe Clay, NM
Container - Content: A Survey of American Studio Art, Invitational, Curated by Leslie Ferrin, Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA
2002 Gathering Influence: The Artist as Collector, 2002 Biennial Kansas City Art Institute Faculty Exhibition, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
Anagama, Invitational, Curated by Chris Gustin, Peck Gallery, Providence, RI
33/32/2002, a retirement exhibition of select M.F.A. graduates, 1970 - 2002. Invitational, Curated by Dan Anderson, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL
Solo Exhibition, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
KCAI Ceramics Faculty: Part-Time and Full-Time 1996-2002, Alumni Gallery, Vanderslice Hall, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
The Kansas City Pot: Alumni of the Kansas City Art Institute 1990-1995, Alumni Gallery, Vanderslice Hall, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
Stoneware for Daily Rituals, Invitational, Red Star Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Functional Foursight, The Signature Shop & Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Ceramics Invitational 2002, Parkland College Art Gallery, Champaign, IL
Pots Presented, Invitational, Curated by Nick Joerling, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD