Summer Events and Opportunities

Central to the PNWS mission is education and there will be three great opportunities for members to get involved through events this summer: They all involve firing premade masks Raku style and since the process always draws a crowd, they will be great opportunities for members to interact with the public and assist in the firing process.

• Troutdale Arts Festival – June 8th and 9  11 a.m.-7p.m. This year, PNWS will be partnering with Mt. Hood Community College to do Raku demos. Masks will be prepared ahead of the event by MHCC students and PNWS members. Mask makers will have their pre-fired work available to glaze for firing at the event. The firing will start both days the at 11 a.m. and shut down at 5. The festival goes till 7:00 so we will need folks to volunteer to be at the booth to answer questions all day but especially at the end of the day. PNWS members will have an opportunity to create masks ahead of the event at the May 25th member meeting potluck at my studio in Vancouver, 610 E. 19th St. I will also be glad to supply members with clay and basic instructions for those who wish to work at home. Raku is fun to watch but more fun if you have a “dog in the fight”, so make a plan to volunteer to fill a time slot and see your work transformed in the process.
• Vancouver Art & Music Festival-August 2-4 11-5.  PNWS will be participating in this event for the first time. In addition to the Raku firing event, we will have a 10’x20′ booth for members to demonstrate their sculpting process. with over 30,000 attending last year, this looks to be a great place to hand out information and interact with the public. Again, this will require members to participate to assist in firing, demonstrations and assist in handing out info and answering questions. I am inviting as many local arts groups, students and city officials to participate in the mask making as I can but it is also open to PNWS members who want to join in. We can fire approx. 20 masks per day so we will need to have 40 bisque fired pieces available for each 2-day event.
• Art in the Pearl-August 31, Sept. 1- TBE. We added the Raku firing to this event last year with the goal of having the parading public pause and get more involved in with our demo booth. We will have the same goal this year. Mask making events are still being planned to allow members to participate.

Each of these events will require commitment and participation from our membership. We fulfill our educational mission by “Showing up”. Relation building with fellow members, personal satisfaction, and an opportunity for self promotion of your artwork are obvious rewards. We will be developing a schedule for volunteer time slots in the near future, until then, circle the dates on your calendar and make a plan to commit. For questions, contact me at brussellford@gmail.com