Salt Lake City hosted the 59th annual conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) from March 26-29, 2025. Titled 'Formation,' the event brought approximately 5,000 artists, designers, educators, and scholars to the region to explore the historical and cultural significance of ceramics through workshops, exhibitions, and keynote presentations.
Exploring Themes of Formation
The conference, held primarily at the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center, utilized the theme 'Formation' to examine how identity and culture are shaped through action and environmental change. According to NCECA, the theme was inspired by the writings of philosopher and educator John Dewey regarding the continuous formation of the self.
NCECA Executive Director Josh Green noted that the diverse landscape and geology of the greater Salt Lake City region served as an inspiration for the event. Green stated that the conference offers a unique opportunity to engage with ceramic art's traditions, creativity, and innovations by presenting the work of artists and scholars from around the world.
Keynote Presentations and Resilience
The conference featured a high-profile opening keynote on March 26, 2025, featuring Suleika Jaouad and Kim Dickey. Jaouad, a New York Times bestselling author and activist known for her memoir 'Between Two Kingdoms,' joined professor and artist Kim Dickey for a conversation focused on the intersection of art, writing, and health.
The discussion explored how creative practices can act as a lifeline to foster resilience and navigate illness. Jaouad's background includes serving on Barack Obama's Presidential Cancer Panel and creating the Isolation Journals project, which grew to include over 100,000 participants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Technical Ceramic Demonstrations
Demonstrating artists provided technical instruction throughout the conference. On March 27 and 28, 2025, Diego Valles, a potter from Mata Ortiz, Mexico, demonstrated traditional Mata Ortiz pottery techniques. His presentation focused on using natural-occurring clays, coils, and bone-dry burnishing, as well as decorating surfaces with slips applied via human hair brushes.
South Korean-born artist Kyungmin Park also conducted a demonstration titled 'Sculpting Narratives: Figurative Storyting.' An Associate Professor at Endicott College, Park utilized handbuilding techniques such as slab construction and coiling to demonstrate how ceramic sculptures can convey personal and shared experiences through expressive facial features and body gestures.
Public Access and Sustainability
Beyond the Salt Palace Convention Center, dozens of exhibitions were held at various venues throughout the region. NCECA announced that nearly all of these exhibitions were open to the public free of charge, aiming to make ceramic art accessible to the broader community.
While core programming required registration, certain areas of the convention center remained accessible to the public without it. The organization also implemented green practices for the 2025 event, including offering digital downloads for conference posters and encouraging pre-publication ordering of materials to minimize paper waste.
Economic and Educational Impact
The economic significance of the conference was highlighted by referencing NCECA's 2018 event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which generated an estimated economic impact of more than $6 million. The 2025 Salt Lake City iteration aimed to leverage similar regional engagement through partnerships with local arts organizations and galleries.
To support the next generation of artists, NCECA provided day pass scholarships specifically for high school students and their teachers within the conference region.
Local Artistic Presence
The local Salt Lake City arts community is home to several established figures in the field. Horacio Rodriguez, an artist and educator who moved to Salt Lake City after receiving a fellowship from the University of Utah, has been active in the region's cultural landscape.
Rodriguez, whose work explores physical and psychological borders through clay and text, has served on the Board of Directors for the Mestizo Institute of Culture and Arts (MICA) as a curator. His previous local engagements include exhibitions at Finch Lane Gallery, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and the Granary Arts in Ephraim.
Travel and Logistics
Travel arrangements for the 2025 conference included specialized rates from major airlines. Delta Air Lines provided meeting event codes for travelers, while United Airlines and Southwest Airlines also offered discounted fares to facilitate attendance for the thousands of participants traveling to Utah.
