The week’s news in the ceramic art world – July 22, 2025
👉 Applications are open for the 43rd International Ceramics Contest of L’Alcora (Spain). Open to individual or group entries, the competition awards €18,000 in prizes, including a €7,000 first prize. Up to 45 finalists will be selected for the 43rd CICA exhibition running from May 15 to September 6, 2026. Applications are due November 30, 2025.
👩🎓 The Taoxichuan Art Center in Jingdezhen (China) invites artists to apply to their 2026 International Residency Program. Open to international artists, the residency provides a unique opportunity to engage with Jingdezhen’s historic and contemporary ceramic culture. The program requires a minimum stay of 12 weeks and offers travel reimbursement, housing, and studio space. Applications are due November 15, 2025.
⭐ The Virginia A. Groot Foundation invites ceramic artists to apply for its grants, offering awards of $60,000, $30,000, and $20,000 to artists with exceptional talent and demonstrated ability in ceramic sculpture. They welcome and encourage international applicants at any stage of their career development. Applications are due February 1, 2026.
⚡ The LOEWE FOUNDATION invites submissions for its 2026 Craft Prize, which will be awarded in Singapore next spring. Open to artists over 18 working in craft-based professions worldwide, the prize recognizes outstanding aesthetic value, innovation, and material excellence. The winner will receive €50,000, with two special mentions awarded €5,000 each. Applications close October 30, 2025.
🎓 Artists are invited to apply for the XIII International Ceramics Symposium in Römhild, Germany, scheduled to take place in October 2026. Innovative approaches and expanded modes of expression, especially in sculpture, are strongly encouraged. Participants will receive a work grant of €2,000 as well as free accommodation. Applications are due September 30, 2025.
🧐 The Jane Hartsook Gallery (Greenwich House Pottery, New York) invites artists and curators where clay/ceramics is the primary medium to send their exhibition proposals for 2026-2027. The gallery aims to represent the wide-ranging capabilities of clay as a material and is interested in work that approaches the medium from art, craft, and design perspectives. Applications are due September 1.
🏙️ Throwing Shapes, a new ceramics studio in Dublin, has launched Clay City, a year-long residency for early-career ceramicists in partnership with Staycity Aparthotels. The fully funded programme includes studio access, mentorship, teaching opportunities, and a private apartment in the heart of Dublin. Open to recent graduates in ceramics from Ireland or abroad, the residency supports ambitious, self-directed research. Applications close on July 28.
🎪 Guldagergaard’s annual summer ceramics festival, CLAYTOPIA, returns to the sculpture park in Skælskør, Denmark, throughout July and August 2025. This vibrant, family-friendly event brings together several exhibitions, artist talks, live firings, and hands-on workshops for all ages. Celebrating innovation and community in ceramics, CLAYTOPIA offers visitors a chance to engage directly with clay through playful and experimental activities. Admission is free, and the festival is open to everyone.
Exhibitions
Discover these ceramic exhibitions that were recently featured in Ceramics Now.
- Pekka Paikkari: Fragments of History at the Ensérune Oppidum and Archaeological Museum, Nissan-lez-Enserune
- Energy Transfer. Parallel Narratives in Norwegian Ceramics 1895–2025 at the Center for Ceramic Art, Ringebu
- A Roadmap to Stardust at the Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco
- Sculptural II at K.E.R.K. – Kunsthalle Ervinck, Sint-Pieters-Kapelle
- Satoru Hoshino & Masaomi Yasunaga: Sea of Mud, Wall of Flame at Nonaka-Hill, Kyoto
🔍 What’s on View
A selection of ceramic exhibitions currently on view around the world.
- Cammi Climaco: Wild Freedom at Geary Contemporary, New York
- Bowls, Pots, Vessels, Urns, Creatures, Tables, Lumps at The Gallery of Everything, London
- After Ash at County Hall Pottery, London
- Unknown Places at Kunstforum Solothurn, Solothurn
- Surface and Signal at BLUM Gallery, Tokyo
- After ‘Women in the News’: Work by Kari Marboe, Friends, and Colleagues. Presented by The Jane Hartsook Gallery (Greenwich House Pottery) at HB381, New York
- Takemura Yuri: Unfurling Forms at Joan B Mirviss, New York
- Chryssa Kotoula: We Are Walking Talking Minerals at Officine Saffi, Milan
- Stine Hagedorn Jespersen and Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl: Distinctly Here at Stadtmuseum Siegburg, Siegburg
- Carlo Leopold Broschewitz: Ice Age at Oldenburg State Museum, Oldenburg
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Featured image – Cammi Climaco: Wild Freedom at Geary Contemporary, New York
