Home : Summer Programs : TMVA: Faculty
Symposium faculty
 |
Donna Polseno, Director Donna Polseno received a B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute and her M.A.T. from the Rhode Island School of Design. She moved to the mountains of Virginia after graduation and has been a studio artist since 1974. She started her career making pottery which she continues to make, but diverged to a parallel career of making figurative sculpture in the 80’s. Polseno has shown in major galleries all over the country. She was included in the "21st Century Ceramics in the U.S. and Canada" traveling exhibition in 2003. She has received two National Endowment of the Arts grants and a Virginia Museum Fellowship. Essays about her work have been published in many magazines, including two articles in Art & Perception (most recently "Potter’s Space & the Earthbound Goddess" by Wayne Higby) and several in Ceramics Monthly. She is in several books about pottery and sculpture including the cover of Sculptural Ceramics by Ian Gregory. Polseno has been a presenter at several NCECA conferences, a resident at the Archie Bray Institute, honorary chair of the Kansa City Art Institute artist’s auction, and a juror for the American Crafts Council. She has taught many workshops and summer programs, including those at Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Crafts, Portland School of Crafts, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Long Beach Foundation, and Anderson Ranch Art Center. Internationally, she has been an invited participant at a symposium in Izmir, Turkey, has taught at an exchange program in Jingdezhen, China, and has taught for several years at La Meridiana-International School for Ceramics in Italy, as well as showing in the second annual "Concreta" exhibition in Certaldo. Donna has been teaching ceramics at Hollins University since the inception of the program in 2004. |
 |
Mary Barringer Mary Barringer received a B.A. in art from Bennington College, apprenticed with Michael Frimkess, and has been a studio artist since 1973, making both sculpture and functional pottery. Her work has been exhibited internationally, most recently at AKAR (Iowa City), the Signature Shop (Atlanta), and Harvey/Meadows (Aspen.) She has taught at numerous art centers and universities including Ohio University, the Boston Museum School, and Penland School of Crafts. In addition to her studio work, she has written and lectured on ceramic history, and was named editor of Studio Potter journal in 2003. She lives in Shelburne Falls, MA. |
 |
Lisa Clague Lisa Clague is an internationally known sculptor. She received her B.F.A. from the Cleveland Institute of Art and her M.F.A. from California College of Arts and Crafts. She is the recipient of the Virginia Groot Award. Her work has been exhibited at the Macon Museum of Art (GA), The DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park (MA). She shows her work at the John Natsoulas Gallery in California. the Blue Spiral Gallery in North Carolina, and the Udinotti Gallery in Scottsdale Arizona. She recently participated in the 3rd World Ceramic Biennale in Korea. |
 |
Ellen Shankin Ellen Shankin has been a studio potter in the mountains of Virginia since 1977. She received her B.F.A. with honors from the N.Y. State School of Ceramics at Alfred. Recipient of a 1990 National Endowment Visual Arts Fellowship Grant, and a 2001 Virginia Museum Grant, she exhibits her work nationally and has pieces in the collections of numerous Museums, including the International Museum of Ceramics at Alfred, The Mint Museum, The Taubman Museum, the Crocker and The San Angelo Museum of Art. Her work has appeared in many periodicals and books of Ceramic Art. Ellen is a founding member of "16 Hand," a regional craft tour and serves on the board of directors of "Round the Mountain: Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Network." Since 1992 she has pursued a growing interest in teaching workshops and has been a guest lecturer and instructor in more than 50 universities, art centers, and craft schools in the U.S. and Italy. |
 |
Tip Toland Tip Toland was born in outside of Philadelphia and now lives in Vaughn, Washington. She received her M.F.A. from Montana State University in 1981. In 1986 she received a visual arts Fellowship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. She was awarded first-place in 2005 for the Virginia A. Groot Foundation grant. Tip is a full-time studio artist and a part-time instructor in the Seattle area. In addition, she conducts workshops across the United States. Her work has been widely shown and she is currently represented by Barry Friedman LTD in New York. Her work is represented in many private and public collections, including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian, Kohler Art Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Art and Design. |
