Ceramics specialist to visit campus Feb.26

Thursday, February 07, 2008

The University of Tulsa’s School of Art will host visiting ceramic artist Beth Cavener Stichter for a public lecture at 4 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Jerri Jones Lecture Hall in Phillips Hall on the TU campus. She will also conduct ceramic workshops with demonstrations of ceramic sculpting techniques on Feb. 26 and 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Stichter’s work features lifelike animals with vivid features, which she uses as human psychological portraits. Her pieces capture her subjects’ expressive movements as she expertly carves every muscle and tendon from clay.

While the finished ceramic pieces highlight intricate details, her working technique is equally fascinating. Stichter builds solid stoneware sculptures, often with 2,000 or more pounds of clay at a time, then cuts the piece into sections, hollows them out and reassembles them before firing.

The Feb. 26 public lecture and Feb. 26–27 workshop are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the TU School of Art at (918) 631-2739. For more photos of Stichter’s ceramics, visit

www.followtheblackrabbit.com.