Prof. Rita Badilla-Gudiño participated in the 57 th NCECA Annual Conference, with over 5000 attendees, as a Multicultural Fellow, and presented her research and creative work, LUAL – Kiln Firing as Art and Metaphor of Birthing.
The late Prof. Leo C. Abaya, multi-disciplinary artist, production designer, and the MFA thesis adviser of Prof. Gudiño for LUAL, said, “…LUAL is one for Philippine art history; no one has done this…” LUAL Kiln Art has received several recognitions in academic and international fields and is increasingly putting the Philippines on the global map of ceramic arts.
“The quality of her application deeply inspired the NCECA Board and the Awards, Honors, and Recognitions Committee. We are overjoyed that Prof. Gudiño will be part of this event,” said NCECA Executive Director, Joshua Green. Prof. Gudiño is the first Filipino to be invited as a presenter and Fellow in the 57-year history of the conference. NCECA was founded in 1966 to promote and improve ceramic arts through education, community-building, research, and creative inspiration. The conference, held in different cities every year, offers lectures, artists’ talks and demonstrations, workshops, and exhibitions, including a fully loaded Resource Hall of ceramic art materials, tools, and equipment suppliers, and booths of schools, colleges, and universities offering workshops, courses, degrees, and residencies on ceramic arts.
Apart from the varied activities at the conference site, the hosting city also organizes ceramic art exhibitions and events in galleries, museums, and other establishments, such as shops, cafés, and restaurants all around the region. The Multicultural Fellowship Program was launched in 2015 following the challenge of NCECA’s 2014 Keynote Speaker, Theaster Gates, an internationally renowned interdisciplinary visual artist. The program aims to cultivate greater diversity in ceramic art through simple, direct, and meaningful gestures of welcome to individuals of merit, from traditionally underrepresented cultural backgrounds to the conference. Under the Program, Fellows are provided support for conference registration, membership, travel, and lodging.
“I am honored and thrilled to be invited to NCECA 2023…to connect and engage with people who care about ceramic arts, and exchange knowledge and inspiration. NCECA is the Comicon for “clay” people,” said Prof. Gudiño, an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts (UPCFA), who also propelled the founding of the UPCFA Ceramic Studio. “Hopefully, my participation in this year’s NCECA will encourage and inspire more Filipinos pursuing a career in ceramic arts to participate in the conference and apply for the NCECA Multicultural Fellowship Grant.”
ADVT.