Free Spring 2024 Workshop Erin Furimsky and Tyler Lotz

Erin Furimsky is a practicing studio artist in Bloomington, Illinois whose work focuses on the relationship of sculptural form with highly ornamented surfaces. She received a BFA from the Pennsylvania State University (1997) and an MFA from The Ohio State University (2002). Furimsky has exhibited her work nationally with inclusions of her work in international exhibitions in China and Taiwan. Her work has been included in over one hundred group and solo exhibitions, with reproductions of her ceramic work being featured in numerous books and catalogs. Critical reviews of Furimskys’ work have appeared on several occasions in the journals Ceramics Monthly and Ceramics Art and Perception. Furimsky was nominated and chosen as an emerging artist by the National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts. She has been the recipient of numerous artist residencies, including the Archie Bray Foundation, The Red Lodge Clay Center, The Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and the Oregon College of Art and Design. She is featured in a number streaming video on Ceramic Arts Network.

As an educator Furimsky has been a featured presenter at national workshops, as well as serving as a visiting professor at Illinois State University and Heartland Community College, both in Normal, IL.

Tyler Lotz’s sculptures and vessels have been shown in solo and group exhibitions at venues including the Elmhurst Art Museum – Elmhurst, Illinois,  Harvey/Meadows Gallery – Aspen, Co, Dubhe Carreño Gallery – Chicago IL,  Cervini Haas Gallery/Gallery Materia – Scottsdale, AZ, Cross-Mackenzie Gallery – Washington DC,  Franklin Parrasch Gallery – NYC,  Santa Fe Clay – NM,  The Clay Studio – Philadelphia, PA, and SOFA Chicago.  His work has been presented abroad at The First World Ceramic Biennale Korea and 2010 Vallauris Biennale Internationale in Vallauris, France. Tyler’s work has been acquired by collections including the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, in Missouri, and the Icheon World Ceramic Center in Korea. Publications including Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, Studio Potter and the Clay In Art International Yearbook have featured his work.

He has been an artist in residence at the Archie Bray Foundation and the Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana, as well as the Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark.  In 2010, he was one of 12 international artists invited to make and exhibit work in Walbrzych, Poland as a member of the XXXIV International Ceramics Symposium “Porcelain Another Way.” Having received his BFA from Penn State and his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Tyler is currently a Professor teaching at Illinois State University.