Artist Talk with Gay Smith and Frank Vickery

Join us for an artist talk with ceramic artists Gay Smith and Frank Vickery. 

About the artists

Gay Smith

Gay Smith, aka Gertrude Graham Smith, has been firing in soda kilns since 1993. She currently fires her porcelain ware in the soda kiln she built near Penland, NC. Artist-in-residencies include Archie Bray Foundation and Penland School. She’s taught at Penland, Haystack, Harvard, and abroad. Collections include the Mint Museum and Taiwan’s Yingge Museum. Grant awards include a NC Arts Council Visual Artist Fellowship and Regional Artist Project Grants. She’s served on the boards of Penland School and the NC Pottery Center.

Frank Vickery

Frank Vickery has been working in clay for 20 years with multiple years devoted to instruction in clay arts. His ceramic works and teaching approach centers around the contributing education model of workshops, academia, and dedicated studio hours. Frank started his career as a middle school art teacher in Rock Hill, South Carolina. His graduate work was completed at Western Carolina University, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2012. Frank is currently the Director of Ceramics at The Bascom where he also teaches ceramics classes. Frank is known for the quality of his work, his dedication to the field of ceramics, and his enthusiastic ability to share his talent and knowledge with his students.