Visions In Clay 2025

The Horton Art Gallery presents the 16th Annual Visions In Clay Exhibition, August 28 – September ­ 25, 2025. The Gallery Reception is planned for Thursday, August 28, from 5:00 to 7:00pm. Admission to the Gallery exhibition and reception is free and open to the public.

Nancy M. Servis was this year’s guest juror, selecting the artwork and awards for the exhibition. The awards are given for a body of work in three award categories (Best of Show $800, 2nd Place $600, 3rd Place $400) sponsored by the Horton Gallery Foundation, and the San Joaquin Potters Guild presents a $300 Founders Award each year. There is a fifth award for $800 funded by San Joaquin Delta College for a Regional Artist-in-Residence selected by Delta College ceramics Professor Shenny Cruces. The Regional Artist will present a ceramic art demonstration and artist talk to the ceramics and sculpture students. The awards will be announced at the Opening Reception on Thursday, August 28, and on the exhibition website the following day.

This year’s exhibit features 44 works by 44 artists from around the country, including Delta College Alumni student, Melodie Sidhu. 

Visions In Clay was founded by the San Joaquin Potters Guild in 2002–2007, and turned over to the Horton Gallery in 2010 to continue presenting the ceramics-based exhibition. Visions In Clay is the largest exhibition of ceramic works in San Joaquin Valley.

Exhibition Juror: Nancy M. Servis

Nancy M. Servis, Sacramento, California, has been a leader in the greater San Francisco Bay Area ceramics community for nearly thirty years. As a recognized author, curator, educator, and historian specializing in Northern California ceramics, she has curated insightful exhibitions for galleries and museums and devised college curriculum on the topic of California clay. Currently she is serving as guest curator for the 80th Scripps Ceramic Annual, 2025 in Southern California. Her prolific writing is featured in periodicals like Craft Quarterly, Ceramics: Art + Perception, Neue Keramik, Studio Potter, Ceramics Monthly, and the NCECA Journal. She also is the author of several artist biographies and exhibition catalogues. In 2014 Nancy was the Jentel Critic/Writer in Residence at the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana, and she is also a member of the International Academy of Ceramics located in Switzerland. Presently, Nancy is completing her book on the history of Northern California ceramics. Her commitment to preserving, documenting, and exhibiting the work of Northern California ceramics artists is most evident on her website, www.servisarts.com.

Visions In Clay Awards

Best of Show - Nicholas Bernard
2nd Place - Linda Fitz Gibbon
3rd Place - Amanda Barr
San Joaquin Potters Guild Founders Award - Judy Catambay
Regional Artist-In Residence Award - Sandy Frank

Juror's Statement — Nancy M. Servis

The Visions in Clay exhibition, held annually by San Joaquin Delta College, is a noteworthy view into the current work of contemporary ceramic artists. The medium has many variables, including choice of clay, glazing techniques, and iconography. An artist's decision regarding these creative elements guides their interpretive modes of expression. Once determined, each maker strives to achieve an artwork that is meaningful, well-made, and imaginative. Additionally, clay's long history of both figuration and the utilitarian vessel support today's exploration of the material, which provides social comment and personal narrative.

The body of work submitted to Visions in Clay 2025 collectively possessed a sense of yearning offering a searching quality to many of the pieces. There was also noticeable interest in animal imagery, which for me inferred a retreat into a less confrontational world. Quiet stability and internal reflection pervaded many works seemingly in reaction to present day chaos. Subdued figuration was relational to mysterious sculptural abstractions. Fine vessels offered modern expertise found within the traditional form.

The works selected for exhibition represent the artistic use of clay. Sculpture, tile, installation, or vessels were satisfying in the general intent of their genre. Many also went beyond that basic status by adding layers of meaning, witticisms, refined iconography, or command of the medium. This advanced step infused vitality into the piece, distinguishing it from many of the submitted works. Some ceramic pieces, while seemingly simple in their presence and form, captivated my attention with their pathos and feeling. Clay is a seemingly accessible art form due to its malleability and colorful glazing options. It is the conceptual preparation and technical execution, however, which elevates a work above the norm.

Art making is a journey of development, growth, preparation, and study. All these four practices are evident in fully realized works. Choice of materials, commitment to the building process, quality of work, and artistic vision, coalesce to achieve ceramic accomplishment. The rigor of the medium requires perseverance to attain artistic breakthroughs with rewarding results. 

Visions in Clay and its nearly 20-year history offer a contextual legacy of contemporary ceramics by a variety of makers. It captures the creative pulse of artists whose work contextualizes our time and measures the output of ceramic artists. Celebrating the breadth of clay is the intent of Visions in Clay 2025, featuring vessels, figuration, mixed media, narrative, and abstract sculpture. This assembly engages the viewer both visually and experientially, providing an engaging and sensorial experience.

Exhibiting Artists:

(Click on photo/name for more information and details.)

To purchase artwork, please contact the Gallery Coordinator: jan.marlese@deltacollege.edu