8 minute read
The Godmother OF MONTANA CERAMICS
A Q&A WITH Potter Julia Galloway
WITH ITS TOWERING PEAKS AND endless plains, Montana has inspired generations of artists, from iconic landscape painters like Charles M. Russell to author, poet, and essayist Jim Harrison. Perhaps less known are the potters and ceramic artists who have come from and settled in Big Sky Country, thanks in large part to the robust scene here. At the center of that scene is the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. Founded in 1951 by entrepreneur, brickmaker, and arts patron Archie Bray, the Helena-based organization has been hosting ceramics artists for years, including Julia Galloway.
Based in Missoula, Galloway has been featured in shows across the country and has been dubbed the “Godmother of Montana Ceramics.” We caught up with her about her work, how she uses her pieces, and her current efforts to raise awareness about endangered species.
PW: How did you get your start in pottery?
JG: I got into pottery because my high school had a ceramics studio, and I was just kind of good at it naturally. I loved making art and I found it so satisfying. Even all these years later, I still find it challenging conceptionally and technically. Of course, at the time, I didn’t know that being a potter would lead to such an amazing life, but it ended up that way.
How I got that first pottery wheel is kind of a funny story. I saved up all my babysitting money and I went out, bought the wheel, and dragged it home on the subway where I grew up in Boston. And I should say, a pottery wheel is not small! But I just love the doggedness of that young woman.
PW: What was your education like and what brought you west to Montana?
JG: I went to college in New York, I studied in Japan, I went back to Boston for a few years, then went to graduate school in Colorado, and then taught for a year in Virginia. It was very indicative of an artist’s early career, which is often spent bouncing around doing different residencies to develop our own show record and develop a little bit of a reputation. I moved around quite a bit during those early years. After all that, I taught at the School for American Crafts in Rochester, N.Y.
I first came to Montana because there is a fabulous artist-in-residence program in Helena at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, and I spent two years there building my career. While I was there, I just fell in love with Montana. So, years later, when a job opened up at the University of Montana, I jumped at the chance to go back west.
PW: You describe yourself as a “utilitarian potter.” Tell me a little bit about what that means to you.
JG: It’s kind of a funky phrase. But to me, at its very heart, it means that the type of pottery I make is meant to be used. It’s domestic pottery for your kitchen or your living room. It means they are both useful objects and art objects. And maybe it’s a bit finicky to use the word “utilitarian” but I think it helps people understand what I do.
PW: When you say it’s domestic pottery, does that mean you want people to actually use these?
JG: I get asked that a lot, actually. I think it’s up to the person who has the piece. I have seen some incredibly beautiful dresses that I would never wear, but someone else might wear them right away with no hesitation. I think it really comes down to the person and their tenacity.
When you use a pot or a mug, you form a different type of relationship with it. We all have our favorite mug. Maybe it’s bigger or you like the color or it has a good handle, right? The beauty of handmade pottery is that people really come to love specific pieces and I think that’s just fabulous. When you really fall in love with a piece, it’s not as disposable as others. When it breaks, it actually hurts. I got a phone call from a woman who bought a piece from me back in Boston many years ago. She hunted me down to tell me that she had broken my mug. And I was kind of dumbstruck when I got the call, I didn’t know what to say, I didn’t know if she wanted me to replace it or something. I just said, “I’m so sorry.” And she said, “I used that mug every day for 15 years and it was a great mug, so I just wanted to say thank you.” I thought that was so cool that she called after all those years.
PW: Do you use your own work?
JG: Absolutely, all the time. I use pieces done by my friends, which I like because it’s almost like I’m having breakfast with them.
PW: You became concerned with the state of our natural environment and since 2017, you began making a series of pieces that reflect that concern, specifically commemorative portrait plates and now urns dedicated to endangered species. Tell us about that.
JG: I have had a successful career as a potter, and I wanted to do something more meaningful with my skills. A few years ago, I was listening to a podcast while waiting for a plane at an airport about the albatross, which is this amazing bird that can stay aloft for a month by putting half of its brain to sleep. I mean, isn’t that amazing? It can fly over the ocean for a month! They go out over the ocean to get fish and then bring the fish back to their young on land. They’re sleeping and flying at the same time. I thought it was so cool. So, I’m listening to this podcast about these birds, and then they say, “These birds are dying because they keep getting fish attached to fishing lines, and the birds get dragged under the water. And they’re dying at a rate of one every 20 minutes.” I heard that, and it was just a gut punch to me. It was so sad. That’s when I decided to do something to raise awareness. So, I started with commemorative plates. I was in this show in California, and I made a series of six plates with endangered species that could all be found within a mile of the museum where they were being displayed. And the response to the show was amazing. It had a profound impact on the viewers. So, I did those plates for a few years, and I did a few shows like that, including one in Pennsylvania, and again, it got a great response. What was interesting about that show was that people who came remembered a lot of the species that were on the plates, and they realized that their children were not seeing them as much as they did when they were kids. It was really interesting. After that, I thought I wanted to make an object that had more presence, that was a little bigger. At the same time, I was studying burial urns in different cultures. I went to China and learned how to carve all of these beautiful species. So, I’ve done urns of whales and lynx and even spiders.
I don’t know if I would have done that endangered species project if I was still living back east. Being in a place like Montana, the natural world is right there all the time. Being here really raised my awareness about these creatures.
PW: What made you want to become a professor and what surprised you about getting into that part of the profession?
JG: I’m a studio rat by nature. I love to get in there and get to work. But it can also be really isolating. So, the first time I taught a class, I was so surprised about how much I was learning by teaching. Intellectually, it was wonderfully challenging. And I loved that we’d be in these classes laughing and having these wonderful discussions about art, and I realized that this would be a really good move for me.
PW: What are you working on now, and what’s next?
JG: I’ll be working on these endangered species urns until at least 2027. I’m going alphabetically and I’m on the letter H right now, so I still have a ways to go. That’s what I’m working on now. And then we’ll see. Usually, one project leads to the next.
I’m really rooted in the studio, though. I still spend at least an hour every day working in the studio and so everything I do is going to be rooted in that.
Julia Galloway’s work can be viewed exclusively at Radius Gallery in Missoula. For more information on the artist, visit juliagalloway.com.
