The week’s news in the ceramic art world – November 20, 2025

⭐ Artists based in the United States are invited to apply for the Spector Craft Prize for Emerging Artists, a national juried award supporting makers with seven years or less of studio practice. Open to disciplines including ceramics, textiles, woodworking, glass, metalwork, basketry, and paper arts, the prize offers a $10,000 award, mentorship opportunities, and a growing professional network. Created by the Spector Family Foundation to champion excellence in American craft, the prize launches at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2026. Applications are due March 1, 2026.

🍁 Artists based in Canada are invited to apply to Medalta’s annual Community Artist Exhibition, presented in the Yuill Family Gallery within Medicine Hat’s Historic Clay District. Open to both emerging and established artists, the program welcomes solo or small-group proposals that explore creativity in any form, offering the opportunity to exhibit in one of Canada’s most distinctive heritage spaces dedicated to clay, craft, and innovation. Submissions are due December 15, 2025.

📌 The 10th Biennale de Céramique de Sèvres (ArtCeram2) has recently opened its call for submissions, now aiming to reach a wider international community. The 2026 edition, held in Sèvres (France) from May 21 to June 7, invites established ceramic artists to submit sculptural works that demonstrate strong artistic vision and technical mastery. As a selling exhibition, selected artists will receive a dedicated display area, and a participation fee of €250 applies. Submissions close November 30, 2025.

🌲 The Gardiner Museum in Toronto has reopened its fully transformed ground floor, marking its most significant renewal in two decades. The renovation introduces the Museum’s first-ever Gallery of Indigenous Ceramics, a new Makerspace, a Community Learning Centre, and reimagined Collection Galleries, all guided by principles of access, connectivity, and Indigeneity. The reopening also debuts a major new commission by artist Nadia Myre, whose ceramic installation greets visitors at the entrance. Additionally, two new shows are on view: Linda Rotua Sormin: Uncertain Ground and Femme Fatale: The Art of Jeannot Blackburn.

🎬 The Manises International Ceramics Film Festival (CICEMA) will hold its third edition this weekend at the Germanías Auditorium in Manises, Spain. The festival—Europe’s only film event dedicated exclusively to ceramics—screens documentaries, fiction, animation, and art videos exploring the medium’s many dimensions. This year’s program includes the City of Manises Award competition and the Prodesco Student Prize. Highlights include the opening screening of Paso Doble (2006) and a special presentation of Porcelain War, winner of the 2024 Sundance Grand Jury Prize.

📙 Book recommendation: Irene Nordli: My Hands Just Keep Getting Bigger (2025). This publication showcases the oeuvre of Irene Nordli, one of the Nordic ceramics scene’s most renowned artists, and examines how her works have evolved over the past three decades. Known for her figurines and porcelain, and the interplay between body and material, her art is presented in a way that interweaves the personal, the artistic, and the historical. Buy the book from arnoldsche Art Publishers.

📙 Our call for papers on ceramics is still ongoing. We invite submissions of critical essays, exhibition reviews, and research-based articles for upcoming issues of the magazine. In honoring our commitment to showing the evolving trends and concepts that shape contemporary ceramics, we welcome writing that deepens the understanding of clay as a material of artistic, social, and ecological inquiry. We seek contributions that approach ceramics through diverse perspectives — artistic, curatorial, historical, philosophical, political, or environmental. We offer at least $200 for selected articles.