In 2006 under the far-sighted leadership of the College of Borrego's Adult Education Program, the Pottery Program was created. After arranging for a large outdoor space on School District grounds the College and its patrons bought and donated the equipment necessary to open a working and teaching pottery studio. Ginger Dunlap-Dietz, a potter from Syracuse, NY was on hand to manage and organize the Pottery from the beginning.
In 2013 the College of Borrego handed the sponsorship of the Pottery over to the Borrego Art Institute. In addition to continuing the on-going programs, in 2014 BAI initiated its first Celebration of Clay and Glass Show. The annual exhibition has transformed into a show called Celebrating Earth's Elements which features works in clay, glass, wood, metal, and fiber, and highlights local artists and introduces the work of artists from around Southern California.
Over the fourteen winter/spring seasons the Pottery Studio has been open, it has grown; new equipment includes a raku kiln, new storage structures, materials, and new workshops. We are very proud of the significant group of people who have discovered the joy of working with clay and have made the studio a special place.
Some have taken what they learned back to their homes in other locales and built their own pottery studios; some make the Pottery a focus of their seasonal time here in Borrego Springs. Each year the Pottery is able to maintain limited summer hours.
Under the guidance of the Borrego Art Institute, community awareness of the Pottery program is growing. With the assistance of interested donors, the goal this year is to build a new year-round facility for clay as a part of the ARTPARK at BAI.
We expect that the future will bring a year-round presence, new guest artists, more workshops and increased interest in the clay medium and the art of ceramics.
CELEBRATING THE ARTS IN BORREGO SPRINGS, A National Endowment for the Arts funded mural at the Borrego Art Institute Story of the Community Tiles: Their place in the Borrego Art Institute Mural The first appearance of what are now called Community Tiles was in Expressions in Clay, 2008, the exhibition of clay at Borrego Art Institute in its original location in the Mall. The show included clay work by a number of Borrego artists. Artists from the newly formed Borrego Pottery were at work hand building Over the next several years they were joined by tiles made the same way by the artist members at an Art Guild luncheon and at the Pottery’s Annual Holiday Open House by attendees and resident artists. In the the last 10 years members of the Pottery and the community have created more than 200 tiles. The Mural is born: ![]() These existing tiles became the inspiration for a larger grant project in 2016 and started the process of evolution for the approximately 224 square foot permanent work of art celebrating the arts in Borrego Springs. An award of a $10,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts has inspired and enabled the community of Borrego Springs, California to create a beautiful clay, glass and steel mural for the exterior south wall of the Borrego Art Institute. Headed up by the Pottery Studio DIrector, Ginger Dunlap Dietz, the process began with a 5-member team, designing the concept and broad outlines for the mural, and then brainstorming about the theme of the Arts in Borrego Springs and the parts of our art-rich environment that they wanted to include. The team decided on pottery, sculpture, painting, written word, music, film-making, photography, theater, architecture, glass work, dance, and flower and nature study. Quirky expressions of creative imagination inevitably appeared to add to the artistic subjects depicted in the project. Once the pieces were glazed and fired, individual panel installation began. While the year-long process Over 150 members of the community participated in large and small ways in the process of planning, creating and installing this surprising and memorable piece of art. In addition, supporters of the project donated in excess of $10,000 to match the National Endowment for the Arts grant. Celebrating the Arts in Borrego Springs will be available both day and night for community residents and many visitors to enjoy, drawing attention to the importance in Borrego Springs of art in all its forms for a long time in the future.
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