By Vicki Prichard
Special to NKyTribune
Marsha Karagheusian
One might say that Fort Mitchell-based artist Marsha Karagheusian talks with her hands. That’s not to say that her arms wave and weave as she tells a story. Instead, Karagheusian’s hands communicate in the push and pull of clay, moving earth between her palms, through her fingers, giving form to centuries-old narratives by way of ceramic vessels, both functional and figurative, and through the female psyche, telling her own story within the genre of the female nude.
Running through May 1, Karagheusian’s art, along with the art of Santa Fe-based artist Sheryl Zacharia, is on exhibit at Caza Sikes at 3078 Madison Road, Cincinnati. The exhibit, Tributaries, is in conjunction with the annual conference produced by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), Rivers, Reflections, Reinventions, that was slated to be a physical event in Cincinnati. Now, due to Coronavirus restrictions, for the first time in its 50-plus years history, the conference will present as an online event, running through March 21. The event will also feature physical exhibits throughout the city.
“No other discipline has what the ceramics world uniquely enjoys,” says Karagheusian. “Once a year, NCECA attracts almost 6500 people affiliated with clay, in one way or another, to convene in a different American city.”
The conference is a key funding source for NCECA, and generally is an economic perk for its host cities as well. The event presents professors, students, curators, gallerists, historians, and museum directors, and many others with the opportunity to gather for a week of lectures, demonstrations, panel discussions, round tables, and exhibitions for the purpose of advancing the creation, teaching, and learning through clay in the contemporary world.
This year, Karagheusian’s role extended beyond exhibitor – she’s the On-Site Conference Liaison (OSCL) for the Cincinnati conference. She began working on the event three years ago, long before the Coronavirus pandemic and its restrictions brought plans for the usual physical conference to a halt, mandating a virtual event. The organization’s 2020 conference, slated for Richmond, Virginia, was cancelled altogether.
Remnants of Her Ancestry by Marsha Karagheusian
“Our hearts went out to the Richmond, Virginia co-liaisons when the 2020 conference had to be canceled exactly one year ago – cancelled after 53 consecutive years.” says Karagheusian. “Little did we know how bad the pandemic would become. I remember thinking that if this had happened to Cincinnati in 2021, how devastated we would all be. Well, we found ourselves in new territory.”
Once the decision was called to make the event a virtual one, Karagheusian says they were “navigating new waters for almost a year” as they prepared for the organization’s first ever virtual conference.
When asked to serve as the conference’s on-site liaison, Karagheusian says she accepted the role with “great enthusiasm…and trepidation.” She received a 20-page job description and “hit the deck running.” As liaison, her long list of tasks included identifying leading artists, building community relationships, seeking funding opportunities, reviewing proposals for panels and discussions, art jurying, and placing approximately 100 exhibitions throughout the Cincinnati region after extensive relationship-building with the various museums, galleries, and other art venues.
“Museum and gallery venues had to be procured, and most of them had already been booked three to five years out,” says Karagheusian. “Challenges were met from the very beginning, and I knew my work was cut out for me.”
Immediately, Karagheusian sought a co-liaison and began identifying individuals to form a local committee. That task, she says, wasn’t very difficult, given the hundreds of clay makers in the Cincinnati region.
Memories Vanished by Marsha Karagheusian
“After all, Cincinnati is the cradle of American art pottery. In 1880, Maria Longworth Nichols founded Rookwood Pottery,” says Karagheusian. “Her rival, Mary Louise McLaughlin, wrote the book on China Painting which launched that movement in America. McLaughlin was also the first American to develop decorating ceramics under the glaze and the first to produce studio porcelain in the United States. That’s right, two women did it all, right here in the Queen City.”
Rivers, Reflections, Reinventions, specifically titled with a nod to key features of the Cincinnati region, is presented as an online event, filled with rich and varied content that includes lectures, panels, demonstrations, networking opportunities, student critiques, and virtual exhibition halls for exhibitions, vendors, schools, and organizations.
Installations throughout Cincinnati include, the 2021 NCECA Annual at the Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery, the 2021 NCECA Juried Student Exhibition at DAAP Galleries of the University of Cincinnati, and the 2021 Multicultural Fellowship Exhibition.
Marsha Karagheusian’s installation at the Contemporary Arts Center
The venues are accessible to visitors in accordance with local guidelines. Programming for the event is structured around daily themes and keynote speakers to engage with topical concerns, reflect, and inspire action through ceramic art, teaching, and learning.
NCECA is a not-for-profit educational organization that provides valuable resources for individuals, schools, and organizations with interest in the ceramic arts.
“With the original Cincinnati theme of Rivers, Reflections, Reinventions, we embark on this new journey in a unique moment in time, while also seizing upon the opportunity to make the conference accessible to those both nationally and internationally, who have been unable to attend this annual event,” says Karagheusian.
Karagheusian’s work can also be seen in an installation entitled, Sanctuary, at the Contemporary Arts Center, Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, 44 E. 6th Street, Cincinnati. The exhibit combines her suspended ceramic pods with the woven paper sculpture of Lisa Merida-Paytes, her conference co-liaison. The show was installed March 8 and will come down on March 22.
