Can I get a little drum roll please? May I boast for just a moment?
I am happy to announce that I was fortunate to be the recipient of the 2012 Niche award in the hand molded ceramic division!
It was truly an honor and an experience I will not soon forget.
While the Niche Awards are open to any professional American crafts person, all entries were judged from photos submitted by the artists. The judges were made up of a six person jury of museum curators, exhibitions director of the Oregon College of Art along with gallery owners across the US.
The Niche Awards have been a part of the Buyers Market of American Craft, in Philadelphia, for over 20 years and a total of over 1,100 entries vied for the 40 categories.
So as you can imagine, it was a huge honor to be selected!
The awards ceremony was held in the beautiful Pennsylvania Convention Center which is more like an art gallery than a convention center. The modern day Art Deco building contains a collection of its own artwork. And nominated work (I started out as a Niche Finalist) was on display during the Buyers Market.
It was so intimidating to see the quality of the other entries, there were so many beautiful pieces on display.
During the awards ceremony, I hung out with my long time friend Merle Porter . She tried to sooth my worst fear… having to stand up in front of people to accept the award, but the nerves were a rattling.
I sat on the 2nd row so I could follow the lead of the first recipient. Finalists’ work in each category was projected on a large screen, then as the winner was announced the winning piece was projected. Fortunately, I was the first one up cutting my dread time immensely.
The Niche statuette was designed by a friend, and fellow artist, Robert McCandles, from Austin Texas. After the awards I joined some follow artists at a favorite restaurant in downtown Chinatown.
It was truly an amazing experience, and one I wish every artist, every potter, every creative soul could experience once in their lifetime.
