About Bede
People often comment about the range of my work and I guess I have always cast a pretty wide net in terms of my exploration of clay. Pots and the vessel have held the center but there has been a strong overlay of interest in drawing, color and leaving a trace of the hand.
I don’t know, but it seems natural to me that given a restless spirit and a creative discipline one would get into a lot of mischief. I guess I don’t separate pots by how they were fired or made but by the feeling they occupy – their “being”.
I am on friendly terms with wood kilns and electric kilns, high fire and low fire. No matter the technique it really only holds merit if it leads to “good” pots, and for me good pots are not defined by a technique but most often by a healthy balance of energy/wildness and restraint/firmness.
I have always thought pots are a lot like people.
Curriculum Vitae
Education:
MFA, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa (1990)
BFA, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida (1982)
Professional:
Professor of Art, University of Missouri (1992-Present)
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
Belger Crane Yard Studios, Kansas City, MO, 2018
Schaller Gallery, St. Joseph, MI, 2017
Schaller Gallery, ST. Joseph, MI, 2016
Carter Art Center Gallery, MCC-Penn Valley, Kansas City, MO, 2016
Crimson Laurel Gallery, Bakersville, NC, 2015
Museum of Contemporary Art, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 2014
Schaller Gallery, St. Joseph, Michigan, 2013
Maybee Art Gallery, Culver-Stockton College, Canton, MO, 2011
Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge MT, (2011)
Red Star Studios, Kansas City, MO (2008)
St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, St. Louis, MO, (2008)
Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS, (2007)
Roswell Art Center West, Roswell, GA, (2006)
Red Star Studios, Kansas City, Missouri (2005)
Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center, Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX (2004)
Target Gallery, St. John’s University Art Center, Collegeville, MN (2004)
Burroughs Gallery, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C. (2003)
Iowa Weslyan College, Mt. Pleasant, IA, (2002)
Baylor University Art Department Gallery, Waco, TX, (2000)
Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO, (1999)
Taipei County Cultural Center, Taipei County, Taiwan, (1998)
Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO (1998)
Selected Group Exhibitions:
National Wood Fire Invitational, Longview Center for the Arts, Longview University, Farmville, VA (2020)
Clay Currents, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS (2019)
NCECA Gallery Expo, Minneapolis Convention Center, (2019)
Wood, Soda, Salt: Atmospheric Dynamics, Whitney Center for the Arts, Sheridan College, Sheridan, WY (2018)
2012 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Yingge Ceramics Museum and Kaohsiung Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
SOFA 2012, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL, represented by Next Step Gallery, Ferndale, MI
Uncommon Ground: Impact and Influence, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, CO(2011)
Art of the Cup, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA, (2011 & 2010)
Invitational Exhibition of 21st Century Iconographic Clayworks, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR (2009)
The Infinite Teapot, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, Ohio (2009)
Dichotomy, national invitational, Atrium Gallery, Ball State University, Muncie, IN (2009)
Utilitarian Clay V: Celebrate the Object, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (2008)Crossing Boundaries: Painting and Ceramics, Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA (2008)
2007 NCECA Clay National Biennial Exhibition, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY (2007)
Clay-Wood-Fire: An International Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Wood-Fired Clay, Chemeeketa Community College, Salem, OR (2007)
2006 Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award, Shepparton Art Gallery,Shepparton, Victoria, Australia (2006)
International Wood Fire Exhibition, international invitational, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ (2006)
2006 Ceramics Biennial Invitational, Parkland Art Gallery, Parkland College,Champaign, IL
Legacy and Innovation in Contemporary Clay, Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA
The 3rd World Ceramic Biennale 2005 Korea, Ichon World Ceramic Center, Kyongg Province, Korea (2005)
NCECA 2005 Clay National Exhibition, Baltimore County Center for Art and
Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD (2005)
The Naked Truth: 2004 International Juried Woodfire Exhibition, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA (2004)
Gas-Fired/Wood-Fired: Kilns, Fire and Ceramic Expression, Carroll Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN (2004)
The 2nd World Ceramic Biennale 2003 Korea International Competition, Ichon World Ceramic Center, Kyonggi Province, Korea (2003)
Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2003, Competition Exhibition Hall, Cheongju, South Korea (2003)
Twenty-Five Years of Collecting: Works from the Permanent Collection, Martin Museum of Art, Baylor, University, Waco, TX (2003)
Selected Collections
Ichon World Ceramic Center, Kyongi Province, Korea
Taipei County Yingke Ceramics Museum, Taipei County, Taiwan
Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
Crocker Museum of Art, Sydney Swidler Collection, Sacramento, California
Daum Museum, State Fair Community College, Sedalia, Missouri
Martin Museum of Fine Art, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan UT
Bermuda National Gallery, Hamilton, Bermuda
Dwight M Holland Collection, East Carolina University School of Art
Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, Kansas
The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas
Goldfarb School of Nursing, St Louis, MO
Lamar Dodd Art Center, LaGrange College, LaGrange, Georgia
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Topeka Kansas
Taipei County Cultural Center, Taipei, Taiwan
ASAI Architects, Kansas City, Missouri
Advanced Business Fulfillment, St. Louis, Missouri
H & R Block Corporate Headquarters, Kansas City, Missouri
Selected Awards
William H Byler Distinguished Professor Award, University of Missouri – Columbia (2008)
Lighton International Artists Exchange Program, Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, Missouri (2007)
Sturt Australian Contemporary Craft Center Residency Award, Mittagong, Australia (2007)
Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Research/Creative Activity in the Humanities and Fine Arts,
University of Missouri – Columbia (2003)
Fletcher Challenge Ceramic Award, Merit Award, Auckland New Zealand (1996)
Kennedy Center Fellowship for Teachers of the Arts, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C (1987)
Selected Invited Workshops/Lectures
2020 North Carolina Potters Conference
San Diego Potters Guild, San Diego, CA
University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Notre Dame Ceramics Art Symposium, 2016
NCECA 2013, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts annual conference, George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX
Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass, CO
Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, TX
TAFE New South Wales, Northern Sydney Institute, Sydney, Australia
Sturt Australian Contemporary Craft Center, Mittagong NSW, Australia
University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO
Red Star Studios, Kansas City, MO
Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX
St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Baylor University, Waco, TX
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Tainan National College of the Arts, Kuantien, Taiwan
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Dennison University, Granville, OH
University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, WI
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL