Iowa Central alumni return for a day in the clay studio
Two workshops complement Roots & Return exhibit
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Two accomplished ceramic artists whose creative journeys began at Iowa Central Community College will return to Fort Dodge on Thursday, September 24, for a special day of ceramics workshops at the Iowa Central Art & Technology Building.
Kwok -Pong "Bobby" Tso and Man Ho "Billy" Cho both worked with Maureen Seamonds at her studio in Webster City, "The Produce Station Pottery. She was also their instructor at ICCC.
A Day in the Clay Studio: Moldmaking for Ceramics & Wheel Throwing will feature Kwok-Pong "Bobby" Tso and Man Ho "Billy" Cho from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The workshops are being held in conjunction with Roots & Return: Iowa Central Alumni Art Show, currently on exhibition in the Iowa Central Art Gallery.
The exhibit, which began Sept. 3, will run through October 31, with about 20 different exhibits from ICCC alumni.
"It's a full gallery," said Seamonds, "It's a really good show."
The exhibition features paintings, photographs, and many different art mediums.
"Linda Kloberdanz of Webster City did a macrame piece that's lovely," said Seamonds.
The two workshops on Thursday complement the exhibits with their special focus on ceramics.
Tso and Cho both came to Iowa Central from Hong Kong and continued their education and professional careers in ceramics after their time in Fort Dodge. Their return offers current students, alumni and community participants an opportunity to learn from two artists whose careers grew from their early experiences in the Iowa Central art studios.
Bobby Tso -- Moldmaking for Ceramics
Tso attended Iowa Central in 2005 and went on to earn a BFA from Northwest Missouri State University and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa. He is currently Assistant Chair and Associate Professor of Art at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.
His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. He was recognized as a Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist in 2014 and an NCECA Emerging Artist in 2016 and has been a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation.
During the September 24 workshop, Tso will demonstrate plaster moldmaking techniques for ceramics, sharing processes that can allow artists to reproduce forms and use molds as part of their own creative vocabulary.
For Tso, returning to Iowa Central also means returning to the place where an important part of his life as an artist began. In reflecting on his Iowa Central years, he remembers the daily studio time--working alongside classmates, watching pottery videos, sharing meals and learning from faculty and one another. He credits professors Maureen Seamonds and Rusty Farrington with helping him realize that becoming an artist was possible.
Billy Cho -- Wheel Throwing
Cho also studied ceramics at Iowa Central before continuing his education at Northwest Missouri State University. He later earned his MFA in Ceramics from the University of Iowa in 2018.
His experience combines ceramics with design, fabrication and prototyping. Cho currently works at the University of Iowa, where his work includes instructional support for prototyping and fabrication. His background also includes graduate work with University of Iowa professor Steve "Thunder" McGuire.
For the Iowa Central workshop, Cho will return to one of the fundamental processes of ceramics: throwing clay on the potter's wheel. His demonstration will give participants an opportunity to observe the relationship between technique, repetition and individual expression in wheel-thrown pottery.
The workshop is hosted by Michael Baird and the Iowa Central Art Department in partnership with Legacy Learning Boone River Valley, Produce Station Pottery and Iowa Central Community College.
The day will lead into the Roots & Return alumni reception from 5 to 8 p.m. that evening at the Iowa Central Art Gallery.
Roots & Return brings together former Iowa Central art students and celebrates the friendships, mentorship and creative careers that grew from their years in the college's studios.
For Tso and Cho, September 24 will be more than a day of demonstrations. It will be an opportunity to return to where their journeys began--and to share what they have learned with the next generation of artists.