join us february 20th - 23rd in wheeling, west virginia
an immersive 4-day
ceramics-focused event
ceramics
take over wheeling
is a citywide event that celebrates ceramic artists and clay enthusiasts alike. Galleries and venues across the “Friendly City” are excited to showcase the very best in contemporary and traditional ceramic art during this newly organized four-day experience.
Visit Wheeling, WV February 20-23 for four days and three nights of amazing ceramics events! Attend workshops, sit in on artist demos and talks, explore the city through eight art openings, and end your trip with a Pottery Throwdown. Visit our unique local restaurants and taverns and fall in love with Oglebay Park and the historic charm of Wheeling.
Special lodging packages are available at the Wilson Lodge in world-class Oglebay Park. Enjoy beautiful accommodations, breakfast each day, admission to the artist demonstrations, talks, and Pottery Throwdown competition as well as exclusive meet-and-greet cocktail parties to open and close this exciting weekend.
juried exhibitions
EARTH & FIRE
Apply HERE open through 12/08/24
February 22 – March 29, 2025
Stifel Fine Arts Center
Earth & Fire is a national juried ceramic exhibition offering $7,000 in total cash prizes.
Best in Show receives $4,000, Solo Exhibit in 2026, and paid workshop opportunity 2026.
2nd prize: $1500.00
3rd prize: $1000.00
2 merit awards: $250.00 each
Juried by: Rebecca Harvey & Sunshine Cobb
of the Archie Bray Foundation (The Bray)
rebecca harvey
Juror for Earth & Fire 2025
Rebecca Harvey is the Executive Director of the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, MT. She received her MFA in Ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI, and her BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. She has received international recognition for her artistic practice, including residencies in Dresden, Germany; Uppsala, Sweden; Jingdezhen, China; and Olafsfjordur, Iceland.
sunshine cobb
Juror for Earth & Fire 2025
Sunshine Cobb is the Resident Coordinator for the Archie Bray Foundation. As a studio artist living in Helena, MT she specializes in handmade functional pottery. She frequently travels the country as an invited lecturing and demonstrating artist and is considered an important contemporary functional potter, hailed in both academic and commercial circles, and is consistently featured in art exhibitions throughout the country. With a strong social media following and online media presence, she represents an innovator in online business models in the ever-changing ceramics field and a leading advocate for functional art in modern living. She has also authored two books “Mastering Hand Building” and “A Beginners Guide to Hand Building” by Voyager Press.
Stifel Fine Arts Center of Oglebay Institute will be hosting a national exhibition of ceramic art on February 22 - March 29, 2025. This is the third annual exhibition and will be a focal point of Ceramics Take Over Wheeling.
Click here for the list of accepted artwork from 2024.
Ceramics Take Over Wheeling is a citywide event that will celebrate ceramic artists and clay enthusiasts alike. Galleries and venues across the “Friendly City” are excited to showcase the very best in contemporary and traditional ceramic art during this newly organized four-day experience. Click here for more information
Opening Reception
Join us from 6:30-8:30pm Saturday, February 22 at Stifel Fine Arts Center for the opening reception of Earth & Fire: A National Ceramic Art Exhibition.
Explore the exhibit, discover who the winning artists are, and enjoy refreshments. We will have a Facebook Live Stream of the awards ceremony starting around 7:15 p.m. on Oglebay Institute's Facebook page.
Register Here Online or call 304-242-7700 to attend the opening reception. RSVPs are appreciated, but not required. All are welcome. Admission is free for the opening reception.
The exhibit is on display through March 29, 2025.
Regular gallery hours are 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday and 10am-4pm, Saturday. Evening hours vary, please call 304-242-7700 for more information. Admission is free.
February 20 – March 29, 2025
Bethany College
The intercollegiate show is a national juried ceramic exhibition offering $3,000 in total cash prizes.
Best in Show receives $2,000, a one year membership in NCECA, and paid registration to the 2026 conference in Detroit.
2nd prize: $500.00
3rd prize: $350.00
2 merit awards: $75.00 each
Juried by: Earth & Fire 2024 Best in Show artist George Rodriguez
george rodriguez
Juror for the Intercollegiate Exhibition
Stifel Fine Arts Center of Oglebay Institute, in partnership with historic Bethany College, will be hosting a national collegiate exhibition of ceramic art in February and March 2025. This exhibit will celebrate and honor the college ceramic artist. The juror will be Earth & Fire 2024 best in show artist George Rodriguez.
The intercollegiate exhibition is the kick-off event for Ceramics Take Over Wheeling, a citywide event celebrating ceramic artists and enthusiasts alike. Galleries and venues across the “Friendly City” are excited to showcase the very best in contemporary and traditional ceramic art during this newly organized 4-day experience.
Opening Reception
Join us from 6:00-8:00pm Thursday, February 20 in the Phillip’s Lounge at Bethany College for the opening reception of the Intercollegiate Ceramics Exhibition.
Explore the exhibit, discover who the winning artists are, and enjoy refreshments, while taking in the beautiful collegiate Gothic architecture of the first institution of higher education in WV.
The exhibit is on display through March 29, 2025.
George Rodriguez was born and raised in the border city of El Paso, TX, Rodriguez creates highly ornamented, ceramic sculptures, often underlined by a connection to sociopolitical themes. His guardian figures, tomb sculptures, and installations, commemorate and build community. His most recent projects include a permanent installation at the new Kansas City International Airport, a community tile mural at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and an outdoor public sculpture at CASA of Maryland, an immigration advocacy organization in Baltimore. His sculptures are part of the collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., and the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden amongst others. Rodriguez holds a BFA from the University of Texas El Paso and an MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle. He is full time faculty at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia.
Local Wheeling Ceramic Exhibitions
The Gallery at 2265 will be hosting ceramic works by George Rodriguez (Best in Show Earth & Fire 2024). There will be an artist opening reception on February 21st from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The exhibition will continue until March 30, 2025.
2265 Market St, Wheeling, WV 26003
Artworks Around Town will be hosting ceramic works by Jen Gandee. The show will open with a Gallery Hop on Friday, February 21st from 5:00 until 7 p.m. in the Centre Market. The event is free and open to the public and is a great opportunity to meet the talented potters. The exhibition will continue until March 30, 2025. Click Here for more information about Artworks Around Town.
2200 Market St, Wheeling, WV 26003
The Gallery at Towngate Theater will be hosting From the Brick Yard ceramic works by Rebecca Harvey and Sunshine Cobb (Jurors for Earth & Fire 2025).
The opening reception will take place on Friday February 21st from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition will continue until March 30, 2025.
2118 Market St, Wheeling, WV 26003
Clientele Art Studio will be hosting ceramic works by Kara “Zuzu” Zupancic. The Show will have an artists opening on Friday February 21st starting 7:00pm. Please come out and support these talented ceramic artists. Click Here for more information about Clientele Art Studio.
43 15th St, Wheeling, WV 26003
West Liberty University will be hosting ceramic works in the Nutting Gallery by Justin “Jstn Clmn” Coleman. There will be an artist opening reception on Thursday February 20th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
The Wheeling Artisan Center will be spotlighting ceramic artists who sell their work in the shop. Display will be in the lower lobby as you walk into the building and all work is available for purchase. Click Here to see what is available in the shop.
1400 Main St, Wheeling, WV 26003
Events and Workshops
Ceramic Workshop with Sunshine Cobb
Friday, February 21, 2025; 10am – 3pm
Oglebay Park’s Wilson Lodge
Oglebay Park Wheeling WV 26003
Register Here Online or call 304-242-7700.
Ceramic Workshop with George Rodrigues
Saturday, February 22, 2025 ; 10am – 3pm
Oglebay Park’s Wilson Lodge
Oglebay Park Wheeling WV 26003
Register Here Online or call 304-242-7700.
This workshop with George Rodrigues (1st Place winner of Earth and Fire Exhibition 20244) will be demonstrating how he makes his detailed sculptures.
Ceramic Discussion with Rebecca Harvey
Saturday, February 22, 2025 ; 3:30pm – 5pm
Oglebay Park’s Wilson Lodge
Oglebay Park Wheeling WV 26003
Register Here Online or call 304-242-7700.
Pottery Throw Down “Stifel Style Sunday, February 23, 2025 ; 11:30am - 1:30pm. Stifel Fine Arts Center
1330 National Road Wheeling WV 26003
Register Here Online or call 304-242-7700.
Raku Firing
Wednesday, February 26th, 2025; 12-5pm
Stifel Fine Arts Center
1330 National Road Wheeling WV 26003
Join us and watch ceramic artist Rick Morgan conduct a Raku Firing on the grounds of the Stifel Fine Arts Center.
The Raku technique involves taking glazed ceramics from the kiln while they are still glowing red hot and placing them in a material that would be able to catch fire, such as sawdust or newspaper. This technique is used to starve the piece of oxygen, which creates a myriad of colors within the glaze.
Free.
Register Here Online or call 304-242-7700. RSVPs are appreciated, but not required. All are welcome. Come anytime between 12-5pm to observe this fascinating process.
“Soup or Bowl” at The Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling
March 15, 2025 ; 1pm-3pm
Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling (1610 Eoff St., Wheeling, WV 26003)
Patrons will have a choice of soup and will be able to have it served in a traditional paper bowl or purchase a ceramic bowl made and designed by a potter.
The hand-crafted bowls will cost from $20 to $30 each, and the bowl of soup comes with them. The dinner also includes cornbread, a drink and dessert.
Proceeds from the event will go toward funding the meals provided by the Soup Kitchen through the spring and summer.
Since 1982, the Soup Kitchen has provided warm meals and companionship as a non-profit inter-faith ministry incorporated with the State of West Virginia. The mission is to feed the hungry. We serve a delicious hot lunch (meat, starch, vegetables, bread, beverage, and dessert). We also offer a meal to go for the evening.
For more information, call 304-233-2992