President’s Message

I just wanted to remind everyone of the upcoming AGM on Saturday,
May 24, 2008. We do have a resolution on the books, and we do need a
quorum of members to participate, either in person or by sending in your
proxy. Click here for proxy forms and for more information.

‘Thanks to everyone who participated in the on-line survey. We got
some good feedback and we are working on it!

—Jinny Whitehead

May 2008 Gallery Exhibition

St. George’s School, Resisting
Exhibition: May 3 to June 2
Artist Reception: Sat., May 3, 1-3 p.m.

By Mike Hole

Every second day for one hour, 18
senior-level students from St. George’s
School in Vancouver assemble for
their scheduled ceramics class. Most
students who attend this private
all boys’ school go about their daily
routine from classroom to classroom
following the traditions established
over the past 75 years. However,
these ceramics students have one class
to break their routine, to resist the
structured customs of their outside
lives. While Saints is an outstanding
school with a great community, it is
also a place that can create stress and
pressure in the daily life of a student,
especially for graduating students who
are vying for acceptance into their
desired universities. Students at Saints
are continually pushed to excellence
and success is often measured with
high standards of achievement and
academic excellence. St. George's
encourages the development of the
all-around student, an image that
is enhanced inside the studio. The
ceramics studio is the place where
pressures and stresses are disregarded,
and for just over an hour students are
able to forget about problems in their
lives, inside and outside the school,
and focus on their artwork.

Led by teacher Rob Stickney, the
\) studio is a place of freedom where the
only requirements are to be punctual
for class and to complete works for

deadlines. The attitude in the studio

is open-minded, as everyone helps
and seeks assistance from each other.
‘The strict manner in which the rest of
the school is conducted does not exist
in the ceramics studio, as students
are granted the freedom to explore
and have fun, a freedom that is never
taken for granted or abused. Shirts
do not need to be tucked in, or top
buttons done up, and students are
able to interact with great respect and
as friends. Students are allowed to
resist the St. George’s status quo.

‘The artwork displayed follows the
theme of resistance, as each form is
finished with some sort of resistance(s)
technique, whether it is putting wax
resist on a form to stop a glaze from
sticking on that area or using a paper
stencil and spraying finish over top
so that a shape remains on the form.
There are so many different ways to
use a resist, and each artist has not only
used. his own method but also created
his own form. The individuality of
each resistance technique is symbolic
of how each artist is in the class for his
own reason, resisting from different
pressures in his daily life. In this class,
each student has their own interests
in life. In the class there are people

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - May 2008

ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING

The Potters Guild of BC invites
you to attend the Annual General
Meeting of members on Saturday,
May 24, 2008, at 2:30 p.m. at
The Western Front Society, 303
8th Avenue East, Vancouver, B.C.
(located east of Main Street, street
parking available.) Registration
at 2:15 p.m.

AGENDA:

1. Welcome and call to order
Approval of minutes of the
April 2007 AGM

3. Annual Report and Financial
Statements

4, Voting on special resolutions
to change the categories to
membership and increase
membership rates

5. Nominations and elections of
2008-09 Board of Directors

6. Other Business

7. Adjournment and
refreshment break

Following the break, Sue Lavitt,
show manager of the One of A Kind
Show will make a presentation of
this new marketing opportunity.
If you cannot attend the AGM
in person, please complete and
return the ballot proxy form,
indicating your support or non-
support of the resolutions.

who are prominent musicians, star
athletes, top scholars, and all-around
students. Every student has their
own passions, but everyone comes
together for ceramics class to enjoy
the common passion of working with
clay and being creative. The ceramics
studio is the resistance room, where
students become artists and forget
about everything else.