Artist: Benj Upchurch
Benj Upchurch, IOWA
View Artist's Products
An old understanding is gleaned by taking the aged earth up in your hands. I believe that to be true. Working with clay and celebrating the way humans have been in cahoots with this ancient material has been a wonderful privilege of mine.
Education
M.F.A. The University of Iowa, 2009, Ceramics, Printmaking Minor
M.A. The University of Iowa, 2008, Ceramics, Printmaking Minor
B.F.A. Montana State University, 2006, Ceramics
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TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2016-2018 Adjunct Assistant Professor, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
2009-2017 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA.
2016 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA.
2015-2016 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA.
2014-2015 Visiting Scholar, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
2011-2014 Adjunct Assistant Professor, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
2013 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA.
2010-2011 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, IA.
2006-2009 Instructor of Record, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
EXHIBITIONS
2018
The University of Iowa School of Art & Art History Biennial Exhibition, Iowa City, IA, September 12 – October 12, 2018
Yunomi Invitational, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2017
Yunomi Invitational, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2016
Clay Revisited: Traditions in Shards, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Black Box Theater, IMU, Iowa City, IA, October 8 – December 11, 2016
Yunomi Invitational, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2015
Clay: Traditions in Shards, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA, October 31, 2015 – October 30, 2016
Living with Pots: Ceramics from the Eric Dean and Todd Thelen Collection, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA, August 15, 2015 – April 10, 2016
Solo Exhibition, The Ceramics Center, Cedar Rapids, IA
2014
Permanent installation: “Line and Pulse Series: Triptych for Sunlight” at the Blank Honors Center, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
2013
Artifacts from the Inferno: Contemporary Wood-fired Ceramics Juried by Jack Troy, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD, October 5 - November 9, 2013
The Janalyn Hanson White Gallery, in conjunction with the 2013 Iowa Clay Conference Mount Mercy University, Cedar Rapids, IA
Midwest Connections: Contemporary Ceramics from the collection of Tod Thelen and Eric Dean, Iowa Hall Gallery, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, August 20 – September 22, 2013
2012
Works from the University of Iowa Ceramics Department. Exhibited at Pittsburgh State University, Pittsburgh, Kansas, and Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana. Yunomi Invitational, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Influences in Clay, The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls, ID.
2011
Bear Canyon and Beyond: An Exhibition of MSU Ceramic Alumni, in conjunction with events for the 60th anniversary of the Archie Bray Foundation, Helen E Copeland Gallery, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
Yunomi Invitational, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Faculty Art Exhibition, Iowa Hall Gallery, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA
2010
Solo Exhibition at Textiles, in conjunction with the Iowa City Gallery Walk, Iowa City, IA
2009
Featured Artist: Project Art, University of Iowa Healthcare, Fountain Gallery, Iowa City, IA. MFA Thesis Exhibition, Eve Drewelowe Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2008
Tara Wilson in Collaboration, invited artist/collaborator, Red Lodge Clay Center, Loft Exhibition, Red Lodge, MT, July 4 – 25, 2008
Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA. The University of Iowa Graduate Ceramics Exhibition, ABW Gallery, Iowa City, IA, February, 2008
The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History MA Exhibition, Studio Arts Building, Iowa City, IA, May, 2009
2007
Group Exhibition for The International Anagama Seminar, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN.
Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA.
2006
Print and Place: An exhibition of new printmaking graduate students, Eve Drewlowe Gallery, Iowa City, IA. Juried Undergraduate Exhibition, Helen E. Copeland Gallery, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.
Ceramics Guild Exhibition, Waller-Oblonski Gallery, Bozeman, MT.
AWARDS
2009
The University of Iowa Research Fellowship, awarded by The Graduate College of The University of Iowa. Departmental Award, The University of Iowa, School of Art and Art History.
2008
Glen C. Nelson Award for excellence in Ceramics at The University of Iowa.
2007
The Dr. Judith Temple Scholarship Fund, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN. Travel Grant, awarded by the Graduate College of The University of Iowa.
2006
Bronze Pencil Award, Montana State University.
LECTURES / WORKSHOPS
2016
Artist Lecture and Workshop, Monmouth College, Monmouth, IL.
Artist Lecture, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA. Lecture and Demonstration, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
2015 Artist Lecture and Demonstration, Arapahoe Community College, Littleton, CO. Artist Lecture, The Ceramics Center, Cedar Rapids, IA.
2014 Artist Lecture and Workshop, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS. Artist Lecture and Demonstration, Linn-Benton Community College, Corvallis, OR.
2010 Artist Lecture and Workshop, Lux Center for the Arts, Lincoln, NE. Lecture as studio assistant for Gerry Eskin, SOFA, Chicago, IL. Lecture as studio assistant for Gerry Eskin, Figge Art Museum, Davenport IA.
2009 Indigenous ceramics workshop, Taproot Nature Experience, North English, IA.
2008 Artist Lecture and Workshop, Luther College, Decorah, IA, October 2008. Visiting Artist, Taos Clay, Taos, NM.
2007 Artist Lecture and Workshop, two week long International Anagama Seminar, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2010
Presenter, SOFA, Chicago, Illinois
Facilitator / Installer, Special Exhibition for Gerry Eskin at SOFA Chicago, Illinois
Facilitator / Installer, Gerry Eskin’s exhibition, SCALE: Ceramic Forms and Photographic Landscapes
Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa
Visiting Artist, Lux Center for the Arts, Lincoln, Nebraska
Visiting Artist, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Artist in Residence, Clear Creek Amana High School, Tiffin, Iowa
Juror, WAMAC Conference Art Fair, Iowa City, Iowa
2009
Instructor, Indigenous Ceramics Workshop, Taproot Nature Experience, North English, Iowa
Facilitator, University of Iowa Wood Fire Seminar with Ted Adler and Tara Wilson, Iowa City, Iowa
Visiting Artist, Slide lecture and demonstrations, Clear Creek Amana High School, Tiffin, Iowa
Instructor, Construction of 15 cubic foot wood fired soda kiln, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2008 - Present
Studio Assistant, for Gerry Eskin, ceramic artist and photographer, maintaining studio and equipment, clay and glaze formulation, firing kilns and assisting with digital photography, Iowa City, Iowa / Aspen, Colorado
2008
Visiting Artist, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa
Visiting Artist, Taos Clay, Taos, New Mexico
2007
Visiting Artist, International Anagama Seminar, Anagama kiln loading and firing, slide talk and lecture
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Facilitator, Anagama Kiln Building workshop with Dean Adams and Dan Murphy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
Blank Honors Center, The University of Iowa,
Iowa City, Iowa Collection of Todd Thelen and Eric Dean, Iowa City, Iowa
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana
PUBLICATIONS
2016
The Daily Iowan, Imagination in clay and light for Black Box, October 13, 2016, accessible via http://daily-iowan.com/2016/10/13/imagination-in-clay-and-light-for-black-box/
2015 Curator Review/Gallery Guide, Clay: Tradition in Shards (Exhibition at Figge Art Museum), accessible via https://uima.uiowa.edu/assets/PDFs/Legacies-Ceramics-GalleryGuide- WebReady.pdf
2012 Exhibition Catalog, Akar Yunomi Invitational 2012, AKAR Design