Monday, November 17, 2025 – Saturday, February 7, 2026
- Reception: Thursday, November 20, 5:30–7:00 pm with talk by curators at 6:15 pm
Giertz Gallery is pleased to announce the upcoming Ceramics Biennial “Detour.” Guest curators Tyler Lotz and Albion Stafford are accomplished artists. They are faculty at the Wonsook Kim School of Art at Illinois State University, where Lotz is also the Director.
Their philosophical approach to curating the exhibition includes a vibrant group of contemporary ceramists. Each of the artists has, in distinct ways, diverted from the conventional or well-traveled path and, along the way, discovered new vocabularies of the ceramic vessel. “The alternate routes they have discovered travel down pathways of material exploration, digital and manual fabrication processes, visual culture, craft, and abstraction,” explains Lotz and Stafford in their curatorial essay. “Deviations from the usual course provide new opportunities for seeing and understanding traditions of the ceramic medium that are bound in form, surface, and material. As these objects exist here and now, they stand as reminders of the astounding things to be seen and experienced when we, too, choose a less-traveled path.”
The curators selected artists and faculty from the East Coast to the West Coast, and from areas throughout the United States, to be included in the exhibition. Participating artists are Jeremy R. Brooks, residing in Conway, South Carolina; Stephen Creech, living in Indianapolis, Indiana; Maxwell Henderson, residing in Red Lodge, Montana; Lydia Johnson, living in Bolton, Connecticut; Joanna Powell, residing in Helena, Montana; Alex Reed, living in Los Angeles, California; Keith Simpson, residing in Greenwich, Connecticut; and Malcolm Mobutu Smith, living in Bloomington, Indiana.
Questions?
Contact Giertz Gallery at Parkland College Office by email at giertzgallery@parkland.edu or call 217/351-2485. Contact 40 North: Champaign County Arts Council by email at kwhite@40north.org or call 217/351-9841.
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Admission is free. Donations welcome!
Donate here.
Giertz Gallery acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. All events in the accessible gallery are free and open to the public. Parkland College is a Section 504/ADA-compliant institution. For accommodation, call 217/353-2338 or email accessibilityservices@parkland.edu.