Panel Discussion with Structure Exhibition Artists

Panel Discussion with Structure Exhibition Artists
Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
Time: 1:30 – 3:30pm
Schedule: 1:30pm – view the exhibition, Structure. 2:00pm – panel discussion begins
Cost: Free
Location: Foothills Art Center – Astor House, 1133 Arapahoe St

Description:
Join us for an engaging discussion showcasing the exhibition, Structure, which delves into the fundamental building blocks of ceramic artistry. Experience the profound connection between artists and their materials, as we explore how these elements shape their creative processes and outputs.

Artist:
Vicky Smith
Bebe Alexander
Alleghany Meadows (not in attendance)
John R Hamilton III
Griffin Callahan

For any questions, email Nathaniel at nathaniel@foothillsartcenter.org

Artist Statements:
Vicky Smith
My work celebrates form and material. I am drawn to the tactile, fluid nature that working with clay
provides along with the myriads of transformations that can come from the firing process. The
interaction of form, surface, color, and patterning, continually challenge and engage my practice.
Organic shapes inspire me, with their sense of volume, growth, movement, and the play of light and
cast shadows that they create. Starting with these shapes, I strive to create work that evokes
nostalgia, dream-like qualities, or hints of a narrative. Humans often seek patterns, similarities, and
connections to make sense of our world. I often contemplate the complexity of our world and the
ways in which we see or understand only a fragment of a greater whole.

Bebe Alexander
My work lives in the space where architecture becomes metaphor, and clay becomes a language for structure, tension, and balance. Drawing from the clean geometry of Art Deco and the raw mass of Brutalist architecture, I build forms that are composed of interlocking components that negotiate
weight, rhythm, and spatial relationships. My goal is that each sculpture becomes a study in how
parts depend on one another, how planes meet, how volumes shift, how a form can feel
simultaneously grounded and aspirational. Through this modular approach, I explore connection and separation, creating ceramic objects that echo the built world while asserting their own sculptural
language.

Alleghany Meadows
I often draw inspiration from details in nature, the curving shape of the sky when seen from a solitary
hilltop, the tension in a peony blossom squeezing outward during a warm week in late May, the
eroding layers of limestone deep in a desert canyon. I enjoy working physically hard, long hours in the studio. Repetition and rhythm in my process are how I search for subtleties, forms, surfaces, patterns, emotions, balance. I am fascinated by the potential when repeating elements stack and arrange, becoming something greater than a sum-total of parts. A series of soup bowls nesting together evokes an emerging flower, then transforms into a stage for sharing a meal, then circles back to become a sculpture after they are washed, poised and alert for their next experience. My hope is to subtly influence the way time is experienced and to inspire creative decisions in ordinary contexts, like preparing a meal for loved ones, eating breakfast, arranging flowers or sipping tea.

John Hamilton
Driven by a fusion of space exploration, science fiction, and nostalgia, my artistic practice
focuses on translating the depths of human imagination into physical form. As an artist trained
in ceramics, my creative fulfillment stems from the tactile process of building, conceptualizing
narratives, and executing them in three dimensions. Clay is a material that emphasizes
mistakes in permanence while becoming a fragile object in its transformation. Mixed media is
important in my process, selecting, including and utilizing the correct materials is critical to

articulating each successive chapter of this ongoing visual diary. Much of my work revolves
around the utilitarian world, I am infatuated with the cup, as an everyday object it becomes
the item that is important to an individual’s daily routine. It is a calling card and each part of it
is crucial to its function. The weight, comfort and balance of the handle, thickness of the rim
and how it feels against the mouth, how the surface feels, and the size are all important to
how we interact with these intimate objects. The cup is an experience. I invite you to engage
with my journey, reconnect with your sense of wonder, and rediscover the uninhibited
imagination that shapes our formative years.

Griffin Callahan
My work investigates the visual language of infrastructure—the systems, connections, and
components that quietly sustain everyday life. I am drawn to HVAC systems, industrial fittings, and
methods of fastening because they exist almost exclusively in service of function. These structures
circulate air, regulate environments, and literally exhaust what is no longer needed, quietly expressing themselves through movement, flow, and release. In many ways, this body of work emerged from my own sense of exhaustion, becoming a way to process, express, and transform that experience through making.
Working in clay allows me to reconsider these utilitarian forms through the lens of craft. I am
interested in the tension between industry and handmade processes, where engineered precision
meets material sensitivity. By translating functional systems into ceramic sculpture, I shift them from the realm of utility into one of contemplation, asking viewers to reconsider the aesthetic potential of objects that are rarely afforded sustained attention.
Surface functions as a record of time. Through terra sigillata, oxide stains, and layered washes, I
evoke weathering, oxidation, and the accumulated histories embedded within industrial materials.
These finishes suggest cycles of maintenance, exposure, and repair, revealing quiet narratives that
often go unnoticed.
Color serves as a deliberate interruption. While the forms reference infrastructure that is typically
muted or camouflaged within architecture, bold and saturated color destabilizes those expectations.
These interventions invite slower looking, transforming familiar systems into objects of curiosity and appreciation while revealing beauty within the structures that quietly support us every day.