While most artists would argue that the arts and culture have a positive effect on the world, it is often difficult to articulate concrete examples of how things are changed for the better through art. For a young man who grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, the benefits of a culture soaked in education and the arts provided resources for learning and self-realization that launched him into a creative exploration of ideas and purpose, one that circles back into his community, further strengthening its strong foundations.
“Ceramics is a thriving art-making community here,” says Studio Arts Manager Audra Clayton of the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media in the city’s Shadyside neighborhood. For over three quarters of a decade, this renowned institution has been synonymous with art in Pittsburgh, offering instruction, encouragement, and support to novices and professionals in a wide range of media. What began in the 1940s as the Arts and Craft Center and reimaged in the 1980s to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is now the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media in the 21st century, embracing new technologies along with the old. One of many programs at PCA&M, the Ceramics Studio has been a stalwart occupant of the basement workspaces and a staunch component of the institution through its many transitions.
Beth Morean, well-known artist and philanthropist, has taken the next step in her 40-year quest to solidify St. Petersburg as a top destination for ceramic artists and continues to build on the ever-evolving expansion of the city as a worldwide arts destination in all mediums. Originally relocating to the area for family business reasons, Beth quickly fell in love with the clay community in St. Petersburg and decided it was going to be her legacy to create something special for the local art community.