Cultivate: The Role of Mentorship and Its Lasting Impact
The Gardiner Museum brings together people of all ages and backgrounds through the shared values of creativity, wonder, and community that clay and ceramic traditions inspire.
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Cultivate: The Role of Mentorship and Its Lasting Impact
June 23, 2021 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
In this free online event hosted by ceramist and founder of the FUSION Creative Directions program, Barbara Banfield, exhibiting artists Claire Nicole Waddick and Aneela Dias-D’Sousa will discuss their recent mentorship with artist Angelo di Petta. Past participant Hana Balaban-Pommier will reflect on the program’s lasting impact.
About the artists
Barbara Banfield came to clay after twenty years in the garment industry. A lifetime of working with her hands led her to the Sheridan College Ceramics Program, from which she graduated in 2010. Further studies in glaze with Michael Sheba in Haliburton, and Pete Pinnell, Steven Hill, and Robin Hopper in Metchosin, B.C. prepared her to establish her studio in Georgina, Ontario. She previously served as President of FUSION: The Ontario Clay and Glass Association, where she was instrumental in establishing the Creative Directions program.
Claire Nicole Waddick grew up in Southwestern Ontario and spent time on her grandparents’ farm in Kent County. She graduated with a BA in Aesthetics and Cultural Studies from Carleton University that included studies in Industrial Design, as well as studying Painting and Drawing at the Ontario College of Art and Design. In 2010, ceramics became her main artistic practice. Like her paintings, her ceramics are inspired by rural landscapes. She has completed artist residencies at Medalta in Medicine Hat, Alberta and the London Clay Art Centre in London, Ontario.
Aneela Dias-D’Sousa established herself as a ceramic artist after graduating from the University of Mumbai with a B.F.A. Ceramics. After immigrating to Canada, she continued her education at Sheridan College as a mature student. Aneela currently lives and works in Pickering, Ontario, and has pursued residencies at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto and the International Ceramics Centre in Kecskemet, Hungary. Her minimalist work reflects her personal experiences—passing thoughts, transient phases, and fleeting emotions.
Hana Balaban-Pommier is a Toronto-based ceramic artist. Originally from Bohemia, she took her first pottery class shortly after immigrating to Canada and found in clay a perfect medium for expressing her ideas and interests. She works with porcelain slip and draws on the characteristics of the material to explore the themes of strength and fragility, similarity and contrast, diversity and unity. Her formal education includes the Sheridan College Art and Design Program (Ceramics), the Fine Arts Program (Drawing) at George Brown College, and the Art History Program at the Harvard Extension School.
