Michener, Sally Alice Beryl
Item
Maker Name
Michener, Sally Alice Beryl
Biography
American born, educator and artist, Sally Michener is one of BC’s/Canada’s highly regarded ceramic sculptors.
After achieving a Masters degree in Social Work and while working in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Sally turned to ceramics and took night classes with Warren McKenzie (former Leach apprentice). She went on to earn an MFA (ceramics) from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, studying with Roy Cartwright where she specialized in ceramic sculpture.
Sally came to Canada in 1973 and became ceramics instructor at the Vancouver School of Art and for 25 years taught alongside colleague, Tam Irving. (Former VSA instructors were Leonard Epp and John Reeve). Sally and Tam oversaw the ceramics department transition to the Emily Carr College of Art and Design, and to the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. (Paul Mathieu oversaw the next transition to Emily Carr University of Art and Design.)
From being an associate professor at ECIAD (1973-98) Sally became Student Dean until 2002.
She was one of the Founders of the North-West Ceramics Foundation in 1993 and served on the NWCF Board until 2015
Sally has participated in ceramic residencies in Canada, Mexico and China, exhibited widely throughout North America, received numerous Canada Council grants, is held in public collections and she is a member of the RCA . Full list of articles on Sally’s work see website; Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art.
As an exciting new arrival to Vancouver in the early 1970s, her work was shown at the House of Ceramics, and in 1979 she had a rare solo show at the Vancouver Art Gallery of sculptural / architectural structures. In the 1980s she erected a large installation of totemic figures on Granville island, other installations at the Surrey Art Gallery and the Burlinton (Ontario) Art Gallery and made public artworks using mosaic. In 2004 her work was included in the significant exhibition, Hot Clay at the Surrey Art Gallery. In 2007, she was one of ten Canadians participating in a month-long residency for an international ceramic museum in Fuping, China.
In 2016 Sally and Tam Irving had a joint exhibition 'The Space In Between' at the Museum of West Vancouver, curated by Carol E. Mayer.
One of her very distinctive figurative/mosaic sculptures stands in the Koerner Gallery in the Museum of Anthropology.
After achieving a Masters degree in Social Work and while working in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Sally turned to ceramics and took night classes with Warren McKenzie (former Leach apprentice). She went on to earn an MFA (ceramics) from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, studying with Roy Cartwright where she specialized in ceramic sculpture.
Sally came to Canada in 1973 and became ceramics instructor at the Vancouver School of Art and for 25 years taught alongside colleague, Tam Irving. (Former VSA instructors were Leonard Epp and John Reeve). Sally and Tam oversaw the ceramics department transition to the Emily Carr College of Art and Design, and to the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. (Paul Mathieu oversaw the next transition to Emily Carr University of Art and Design.)
From being an associate professor at ECIAD (1973-98) Sally became Student Dean until 2002.
She was one of the Founders of the North-West Ceramics Foundation in 1993 and served on the NWCF Board until 2015
Sally has participated in ceramic residencies in Canada, Mexico and China, exhibited widely throughout North America, received numerous Canada Council grants, is held in public collections and she is a member of the RCA . Full list of articles on Sally’s work see website; Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art.
As an exciting new arrival to Vancouver in the early 1970s, her work was shown at the House of Ceramics, and in 1979 she had a rare solo show at the Vancouver Art Gallery of sculptural / architectural structures. In the 1980s she erected a large installation of totemic figures on Granville island, other installations at the Surrey Art Gallery and the Burlinton (Ontario) Art Gallery and made public artworks using mosaic. In 2004 her work was included in the significant exhibition, Hot Clay at the Surrey Art Gallery. In 2007, she was one of ten Canadians participating in a month-long residency for an international ceramic museum in Fuping, China.
In 2016 Sally and Tam Irving had a joint exhibition 'The Space In Between' at the Museum of West Vancouver, curated by Carol E. Mayer.
One of her very distinctive figurative/mosaic sculptures stands in the Koerner Gallery in the Museum of Anthropology.
First name
Sally Alice
Last name
Michener (nee Gronner)
Career dates (start and end)
1973
Date of Birth
1935
Place of Birth
Fergus Falls, Minnesota, USA
Studio location
Formal Education
Major Exhibitions
2019 Sit. Stay. Speak - Seymour Art gallery
2016 The Space in Between, contemporary Works by Sally Michener and Tam Irving. West Vancouver Museum, publication by Carol E Mayer, photos by Ken Mayer
2009 Garden installation, Burlington Art Centre in Ontario.
2004 Hot Clay, Sixteen West Coast Ceramic Artists, Liane Davison, Surrey Art Gallery
1980 Retrospect Ceramic s80, 25th PGBC Anniversary.
1979 Vancouver Art Gallery Sally Michener, Ceramic Sculpture, catalogue.
Collections
Burlington Art Centre
Surrey Art Gallery
UBC Museum of Anthropology
Affiliated organizations
Links to Further Resources
https://www.surrey.ca/arts-culture/surrey-art-gallery/gallery-publications/exhibition-catalogues/sally-michener
http://westvancouvermuseum.ca/exhibitions
The Space Between
The Space Between
https://www.gallerieswest.ca/events/sally-michener-sit-stay-speak/
1998 Made of Clay, PGBC
Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art
Source
Debra E. Sloan
Item sets
Linked resources
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