U of M hosted 1000 Miles Apart, an annual ceramics conference, from Oct. 1 to 3, welcoming visiting artists and students into the ARTlab for talks, demonstrations and exhibitions.
Abigail Grenke, the president of the ceramics club and an honours student, explained that 1000 Miles Apart rotates between Red Deer Polytechnic, Alberta University of the Arts, University of Regina, Lakehead University and University of Manitoba. According to Lakehead University, the conference was first organized in 1989. It was born out of the desire for students to connect across the Prairies, echoing the conference’s name.
“[1000 Miles Apart] was created because students from Red Deer actually came to [U of M], and they really missed their friends, so they decided, ‘Hey, let’s get this conference together and let’s start it,’” Grenke said.
“I actually came from Red Deer Polytechnic, and I came to the University of Manitoba, so I am like the little baby of this whole conference.”
The conference was a joint effort between herself, assistant professor Grace Han and ceramics technician Candice Ring, Grenke also stated.
Toni Losey, based in Halifax, is one of the visiting artists alongside Stratford, Ont. artist Naomi Clement and U of M alumna Julianna Zwierciadlowska-Rhymer. In a demonstration, Losey showed attendees how she throws building components for her sculptures on the pottery wheel before assembling them and adding hand-built components.
“[1000 Miles Apart] opens up new ways of working and thinking about clay and possibly where you can take it,” Losey commented.
“We’ve got three different artists here and we all work massively differently and we’re all successful in our own rights and it’s kind of amazing what is possible.”
In conjunction with the conference is Material Deposits, a ceramic exhibit by Kevin Conlin and Lin Xu in the School of Art Teaching Gallery. Conlin, a trained artist and amateur paleontologist, created ceramic tiles of densely packed ammonite fossils from catastrophic events, or “mortality plates,” as a reflection on the transience of human existence on the geological scale.
“We live on a planet that has had various forms of life for 500 million years, and this life always changes. As a species ourselves, we’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a short time, and we seem to also try to aid that along for some strange reason with what we do and how we treat the world,” he explained.
“The work revolves around the past and the present, and basically what our destiny is going to be if we don’t smarten up.”
The School of Art Student Gallery also showcased pieces over the weekend by students from participating institutions, visiting artists and faculty.
It is hard to glaze over the theme of community throughout 1000 Miles Apart. Grenke expressed that the ceramics community is tight knit, and the conference is why she is at U of M.
“Creating those connections with other schools, with other artists, is super important. Especially as just artists in general, it’s all about community,” she said.
“A lot of times these conferences are great for potential students, master’s students […] When I met a bunch of people from Manitoba when I was at Red Deer, I was like, ‘Oh, this seems like a really interesting school.’”
“A supporting community definitely exists within Canada, but we’re so big that it’s hard for us to get together,” Losey added.
“1000 Miles Apart is a real opportunity for these communities to come together and to showcase what we can do here in Canada.”
