Kansas artist, Susan Speck, has been hand-building her unusual porcelain vessels since 2002. Susan’s pots run the gamut from mysterious, eerie and whimsical to tranquil and elegant. She creates each pot as a one-of-a-kind piece although they may be part of a series of 10 to 20.
All of Susan’s porcelain pots are created in her backyard studio (she built herself) in Mission, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. She shares her unique Arts & Crafts-style home with her daughter Fiona, her Scottish puppy dog Duncan and the wild chipmunk, Chippy.
Susan comes from a family of artists and studied Art Education at the University of Missouri. She currently teaches art in the Kansas City area, but in the summer she and her wares can be found at art fairs in the midwest and exhibits in the US and abroad.
When she is not making her fanciful pots, Susan might be found playing the bagpipes in the local pipe band, doing ‘minimalist’ gardening, working on her house, rowing skulls and traveling the globe.
resume ::
education ::
BS in Education, University of Missouri, 1976
MS in Education, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2001
employment ::
Visual Art teacher, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, 32 years
Arts Instructor, Longview Community Cellege, Lee's Summit, Missouri
selected shows and exhibits ::
2011
Longview Community College Faculty Biennial, Lee's Summit, MO
Brookside Art Annual, KCMO
KC Clay Guild Teabowl National 2011
2010
Laumeier Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri
KC Clay Guild Teabowl National, KCMO
Cherry Creek Art Fair, Denver, Colorado
Orton International ConeBox Show, Lawrence, Kansas...Bracker award winner
2009
Longview Art Faculty Biennial, Longview Community College, Lees' Summit, Missouri
Laumeier Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri, Award of Excellence
Uptown Art Fair, MInneapolis, Minnesota www.uptownminneapolis.com/artists/album25?page=4
Lill Street 2nd International, Drink: Functional Forms for Every Libation
St. James Court Art Fair, Louisville, Kentucky
2008
Infusion 10 x10, 11th Biennial Teapot Exhibition, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, Missouri www.craftalliance.org/exhibits/infusion/infusion1.html
Da Yu Xiao Hu, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA
Mad Hatters Tea Party, Florida
Orton International Cone Box Show, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas, NCECA & worldwide
Uptown Art Fair, MInneapolis, Minnesota
Historic Shaw Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri
2007
current work: Susan Speck, solo show, KC Clay Guild, KCMO
Silent Conversations, Craft Alliance , St. Louis, Missouri
By the Ounce, NCECA, Louisville, Kentucky
Strictly Functional, market house craft center, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Solo show, "From Traditions", Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas
2006
Da Yu Xiao Hu: International Small Teapot Competition 2, Saddleback College , Mission Viejo, California
First Biennial Concordia Continental Ceramics Competition, Concordia University , St. Paul, Minnesota
Feats of Clay, Lincoln Arts, Lincoln, California
Pleasures: Teapots, Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, Kansas:
Mad Hatters Tea Party, Florida
Orton International Cone Box Show, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas, NCECA
Uptown Art Fair, MInneapolis, Minnesota Historic Shaw Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri
2005
1st Annual Florida Teapot Show, In Bloom Gallery, Ft. Myers, Florida
16th Annual Teapot Show: On the Road Again, Chiaroscuro Galleries, Chicago, Illinois
Fountain Square ArtFestival , Evanston, Illinois
Guess who’s Coming To Dinner, invitational dinnerware show, KCCG, KCMO
Art Westport, KCMO
KC Clay Guild group show, Waldo Library, KCMO
2004
100 Teapots 2, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, Maryland
Potter to Potter, the Club Mud National Juried Show, Maude Kerns Art Center , Eugene, Oregon
Vitrified Clay National, Rockport Center for the Arts, Rockport, Texas
Gigantic: Ceramic Figurines, Kirkland Arts Center,Kirkland, Wash.
Da Yu Xiao Hu: International Small Teapot Competition, 2nd place, -Saddleback College, Mission Viejo , Ca.
Plaza Art Fair, KCMO
Funk-tion National, Stretch Gallery, Pineville, North Carolina
2003
Brookside Art Annual , KCMO
Smoky Hill Exhibit, Fort Hays State University , Hays, Kansas , cash award, “Bone Daddy and Mama”
Founders Show, KC Clay Guild, KCMO
Teapots to Still Lives, Spring Street Gallery, Galena, Illinois
Art Westport, KCMO
La Petite XI, National Small Works Exhibit, Alder Art Gallery, Coberg, Oregon
Bones and Flowers, solo show, KC Clay Guild, KCMO
2002 to present
KCClay Guild Holiday Tour, KCMO
2002
Orton International Cone Box Show, Baker University , Baldwin City, KCClay Guild Members Show, KCMO
Funk to Functional Teapot Show, KC Clay Guild, KCMO, 2nd place "funk"
1988- 2002
Founding member, KC Clay Guild (KCCG), logo designer
1977-present- Kansas City, Kansas Art faculty exhibit
1977, 80’s
various exhibits and art fairs.
collections ::
Workshop Gallery, KC Clay GUild, KCMO
Birger Sandzen Memorial Galley, Lindsborg, KansasBracker family Orton Cone Box Show collection, Lawrence, Kansas
Diane Calhoun-French, Louisville, Kentucky
workshops :: , 2nd Saturday Series, Bracker's Good Earth Clays, Lawrence, Kansas
2010- October
2009- December, Handbuilding Techniques, KC Clay Guld, KCMO
2009-October, Art teacher workshop, Hand building, KCKs Public schools
2005- February-“When You Don’t Have the Proper Clay Equipment…Making Do”, Bracker’s Good Earth Clays, Lawrence, Kansas
2004- April-Hand building, Harmon High School, Kansas City, Kansas
2004- April- Handle workshop, KC Clay Guild, KCMO
represented by ::
Swanson-Reed Contemporary, Louisville, Kentucky www.swansonreedgallery.com/
Off Center Gallery, KC Clay Guild, KCMO http://www.kcclayguild.org/
bibliography ::
Kansas City Star, KCMO, Star Magazine, Ocotber 10, 2010
REview Magazine, KCMO, http://ereview.org/2010/05/01/where-fun-meets-funk-tion-susan-speck/ by Steve Brisendine
Columbia Flier, Baltimore, Maryland, January 29, 2004 , photo, “Clayworks Tempestuous Return to Teapots”, Mike Guiliano
Review Magazine, KCMO, September, 2004
Kansas City Star, KCMO, September 22, 2004
Kansas City Star, article in “House and Home”, KCMO, August 14, 2005
professional ::
1988 to present
founding and continuing member, KC Clay Guild, (logo designer), board member, workshop chairman (2005 to present), current Chairman, 2003-to present- member of Potters Council, Kansas City Artists Coalition, NCECA
1976
present-visual arts instructor, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools
beginning Fall, 2008 to present
Ceramics instructor, Longview Community College
awards ::
2010
Bracker award, Orton International Cone Box Show
2009
Award of Excellence, Laumeier Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri
Purchase award, Smoky HIll River Festival, Salina, Kansas
2008
Top 10%, Ceramics category, Uptown Art Fair
2004
2nd place, Da Yu Xiao Hu: International Small Teapot Competition, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, Ca.
2003
award, Smoky Hill Exhibit, Fort Hays State University , Hays, Kansas, “Bone Daddy and Mama”
2002
2nd place “funk”, Funk to Functional, KC Clay Guild
