Hello Everyone!

Well, the CSArt team members are getting ready to pack their bags and start their summer adventures until we all meet again in fall. No matter where our breaks may take each of us, be it exciting internships or study abroad semesters, we are all leaving with smiling faces as yet another amazing semester at Clemson has come to a close, and, with it, another successful CSArt Share!

Over the past few weeks, our team has invested many hours to design and package every Share crate by hand. We screen printed the CSArt logos onto the crates as a team, and carefully placed all of the beautiful works selected by our juror, Yu Kai Lin, inside. All the countless hours put in by team members, artists, and faculty throughout the semester all came together in the stack of crates dissolving into happy customers’ hands. 

Various other ceramic works made by our student artists were also placed out during the CSArt Share for purchase, showcasing the variety of talent and style amongst Clemson artists. During the share, CSArt team members and artists also had the opportunity to meet several of our generous purchasers, as they stopped by to pick up their shares. We are thrilled with our turnout for the 2018 Share, and would like to extend our gratitude and thanks to everyone who came to the Share. 

If you missed out on our event this year, don’t worry — we will be back! Start marking your calendars now in anticipation of the CSArt Spring 2019 Share, because we hope you are just as excited as we are to see the next generation of CSArt and the great work they will do. 

CU in the Fall!

Signing Off, 
Hannah, Valerie, & The CSArt Team

This week the CSArt team and share artists had the pleasure of meeting with our distinguished 2018 CSArt Share Juror, Yu-Kai Lin. The Owner and Director of KAI LIN ART, an Atlanta-based art gallery, spent the afternoon providing us with further insight to his picks for the 2018 CSArt Share. Yu-Kai also provided us with valuable knowledge and advice about our future careers and paths as artists built on his career and wealth of success in the art community. 

On Picking the Artists for the Share: 

Upon being prompted to provide us with further insight on how he came to choose the selected artists for the 2018 Share, Yu-Kai explained to us that he based his decisions off of many of the same criteria that he uses when selecting pieces for his gallery.

As someone who works a job where he is constantly bombarded with images and ideas, “pieces that catch my eye”, he says, are “fully realized, complete thoughts… refined, defined. There’s nothing left to do; it’s a completed idea.” He also says he can appreciate imperfections for what they are, touches of the human hand and reflections of our imperfections. 

In terms of coming across art that is controversial or taboo, Yu-Kai reflected before stating, “It’s a disservice to stifle things we feel and want to talk about… pieces of substance…” He continued, “but the best art is ambiguous; even if it sends a message, it leaves viewers to relate and reflect through their own experiences.”

On Being A Business Owner:

When asked about being a business owner, Yu-Kai was incredibly candid about the work and difficulties that come on the road to success. He stated, “nothing is stable… we are in a time of great change, but with change comes transformation… you can start something new, and that can be amazing”. As far as him and his four fellow employees at YU KAI LIN Art, they seem to be taking it one step at a time, as Lin said, “it’s about faith to trust in the process. Go with your gut, and let the pieces fall where they may.”

Graduate student and 2018 Spring share artist, Conor Alwood, asked Yu-Kai how he best stays update on trends in the art community. Lin responded by saying in terms of following the trends, “it’s better to be the trend”. Yu-Kai reminded us the labels can be limitations, “art is organic; don’t define yourself in a way that will limit who you can be”. He went on to add that artists should seek to make “art that speaks to the culture of the market its in. If you make something that speaks to you or others, that’s all you can ask for”. 

Lin also advised us in our student and career paths alike to “leave no stoned unturned…. And return to those stones”. Yu-Kai emphasized the value of making real connections, and returning to those connections through your life as you expand and grow. He stated, “You want to be a memorable person, in every path you cross you should seek to make an impact”.

On Art Degrees… 

Savannah Wood, CSArt team member, seeks to be an art teacher. Upon sharing on her experiences and prompting a conversation on the unspoken connotations of the words “art major”, Savannah asked Yu-Kai: Did you always intend to open up an art gallery?

Yu-Kai, a Georgia Native, shared with us where his path first began at Emory University in Atlanta as a premed student. A path very much so encouraged by his parents, it wasn’t until he interned at a hospital in college that he realized he didn’t have a passion for the path he was on. It wasn’t long after that he took his first art history class, focused on art of the early Italian Renaissance.

Lin graduated from Emory with a Bachelor of Art in Music, and taught piano for three years after college. He then spent several years doing corporate travel work involving interior design. Lin worked at a handful of galleries before open KAI LIN ART in the 2008. Today, Lin still owns his gallery in Buckhead, as well as teaching art and piano several days each week. 

In regards to the different paths our lives may take us on, Lin emphasized the importance of being open-minded, “people who are different challenge us to grow”, he reminds us. He shared that while his corporate travel work wasn’t the path for him, it brought him a new, more worldly perspective and the importance of being able to communicate with many different kinds of people. 

Still, he encouraged us to take our degrees and “find people who inspire you, challenge you, to find a path you’re passionate about…”. As he put it, #BeYourOwnBeyonce 

On what the future holds: 

As for what’s next for Lin, he smiles before saying “I feel truly honored and rewarded with my accomplishments and what I have built”. Lin is excited but unsure what the future holds for him, although he hints he may have a big move in store for the future, or new career possibilities further down the road.  

Wherever you’re headed next, we will be cheering you on, Yu-Kai!

Stay posted for more updates as we prepare in the final days before the Spring 2018 CSArt share. 

Sincerely,
Hannah Ghafary and the Clemson CSArt Spring 2018 Team

For more background on Yu-Kai Lin and his story, read about him on our Meet Our Juror page or at KAILINART.com

Hello All, 

You heard it here first: CSArt is back and better than ever.

First, we would like to express our gratitude to all of the previous shareholders for their continued support in our Spring 2017 Share - it is because of your contribution to our high success that we are able to continue our annual CSArt Share. To all first-time shareholders, we are excited to have you join us this year! 

Thus far this semester, we have been working as a team to plan what we hope will be our best CSArt share yet. We have invested countless hours into updating social media and building on our brand to prepare for the Spring 2018 Share. As a first-time member of the CSArt team, I am already seeing all of the hard work and planning that goes into this event. Next on our list, we are looking to design and distribute new CSArt brand merchandise to continue raising awareness for the event. With already only one share remaining, you could say we are #kilnit 

We are so excited to be back and will keep you all updated with our progress!

Sincerely,
Hannah Ghafary and the Clemson CSArt Spring 2018 Team

Hello All!

This semester is coming to a close and we are so excited for our upcoming Spring 2018 Share! Then whole gang enjoyed one last trip to Stumphouse Cafe today as we collected all of our student submission and complied them together to send to our juror, Yu-Kai Lin, of Kai Lin Art. 

We are very happy with our progress this semester and are very excited for our new team to get together in January. Thank you to everyone who has supported us through the years and everyone who took the time to take our survey. We only want to provide the best for you all and your feedback is very helpful. 

We are sad to say this is Casey's last semester with us, she has been on our team as a part of the social media team, as the Artist Coordinator and has helped in each planning semester we've had. After graduation she will head to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue her artistic career as a ceramic artist!

Wes is ready to head up next semester and train a whole new generation of CSArt team members and we know they will do a great job! 

"I have had a great time on the CSArt team these past three years! I have learned so much and feel fully equip to manage and market my own art to hopefully advance my ceramic career. My goal is to one day own my own gallery/studio space and CSArt has helped me take my first steps towards making my dream a reality. I am so sad to leave but I know the new CSArt team will be incredibly successfully thanks to our amazing leadership, jurors and supportive buyers. Thanks for the memories Clemson and CSArt and make sure to keep an eye our for my work!" - Casey Bunda, CU '17.

This will be our best share yet, we can't wait to start back up in January! Have a great holiday and a happy new year! 
CU in 2018!

Casey, Wes, Valerie & Dan

Its that time of the year again! We are officially starting our search for our 2018 Spring share artists! Make sure to check out our posters around Lee Hall and submit your artwork by 12/13 by 1pm. Instructions to submit can be found on our posters. Make sure to submit by e-mail to clemsoncsa@gmail.com.

We are very please to say our juror will be Yu-Kai Lin, Director of Kai Lin Art in Atlanta, GA. Yu-Kai was a visiting artists this past semester at Clemson and can't wait to get his hands on the art!

We can't wait to to find our new artists and start our CSArt Spring 2018 Share!

Hello everyone, we're back!

Don't worry CSArt is still going strong. We have been busy planning these past few weeks and can't wait for you all to see our Spring 2018 share!

We will be continuing CSArt as an annual package due to the high success we had this past year. We would like to thank all of our previous shareholders for their continued support. As well as any newcomers we may have gained this past spring during the Spring Sale, we are so excited to have you aboard! We loved getting to meet you all at the pick-up and are so glad to continue utilizing the Spring Sale as our pick-up event for our upcoming Spring 2018 share!

We are, again, utilizing this fall semester to plan and organize for the upcoming spring semester. This semester we will be organizing the new share by finding our juror and sending them our new share artists. We will have a call for work soon and can't wait to see the work our talented students produce. A few of the team members from the previous season are heading up the organization this semester. In always wanting to improve our efforts we would like to once again ask our previous shareholders to help us evaluate CSArt. 

**We have put together a brief survey to get your feedback that we will be emailing to our previous shareholders**

We are always striving to improve and continue our programs success and your feedback is vital! We would love to know how your experience went this past year and how we can make our program every better!

We are so excited to be back and will keep you all updated with our progress!

Sincerely,

Casey and Wes
Clemson CSArt Fall 2017 Team

Hello! My name is David and I am the Marketing member for the CSArt team; I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the 2017 NCECA conference in Portland to represent the Clemson community's efforts to nurture new artists' careers here in the south east, and had quite the enlightening experience. I am writing about my experiences, reflections, and things I've learned and how impactful this opportunity was, which were all possible due to the support of the CSArt program. There were a few hardships for me to attend the conference, but I am glad I was able to make it on the plane there (and back!).

I am an engineering student by focus, scared by the future of scarce and harshly competitive opportunities in the Arts after school (as relayed to me by everyone who asked me about my studies). As a student that found a compromise, finding out about the CSArt program and being a part of it's growth is a redemptive effort on my study of choice. Not that I regret studying engineering, but I'd like to have more creativity in my life with hands-on things as much as I have that freedom with progressive projects; you know, to feed the humanitarian side of my machine soul once in a while. At NCECA, I attended lectures that focused on the technological or progressive side of ceramics, which was a health dose of knowledge on opportunities that blends the field of technology and ceramics together. There is a TON of science in the arts. I know that sounds a bit ignorant and unoriginal, but there is a unfair relation between the two that is a repetitive topic (lifestyle, prestige, income, etc).
NCECA is meant for ceramicists, but I found a niche for myself. During this trip, I met a senior engineer who is invested in ceramics as an artist and we had a very interesting conversation about the future of people with scientific backgrounds with art inclinations. We attended a lecture together on 3D printers integrated as ceramics educational tools along with a laser demonstration on setting glazes, an application I haven't considered that requires engineers to solve the issues the speaker currently faced with his demonstration.  While the engineer and I could instantaneously see the solution plan and identify shortcomings, I didn't imagine such an application even though I deal with laser printers quite often. On the flip side, for artists to demonstrate or deliver on ideas like this, they require a base knowledge of material properties. By trade, ceramicists gain an in-depth knowledge on chemical reactions and material properties that are on par with chemists and material engineers. The art field has taking significant strides to augment their practice with practical knowledge that I believe dialogue for progress between the two fields should be just s developed.
In the CSArt perspective of running a business selling arts, the NCECA conference's talks shed very fruitful light on issues that we faced on growth in the local market. As a hesitant artist, I learned so much on how to sustain a successful career as an artist, if I ever chose to singularly pursue that life. After soaking in all the wonderful art pieces and speaking to accomplished individuals who gleefully shared/demonstrated their craftsmanship, this trip cracked the cage of fear I had surrounding a career as an artist. 

We asked Lacy Ann about herself and work, and we are excited to share what she said with you!

​Q:How would you describe your design aesthetic/ style?
A:I would describe my style as “visually subtle with a high haptic sensation.”

Q:What do you love most about ceramics?
A:The process and getting all dirty while I play in the mud. I really love the outcome of creating objects that people can use in their everyday lives.

Q:What are your inspirations? in general and for the selected piece.
A:I draw my inspiration from the body, there are many processes that continuously work and feed us information that we often overlook, my work is about commemoration of those processes. 

Q:How long have you been making ceramics or other art in general?
A:For about 7 years now I have focused on ceramics but, art in general has always been a part of my life

Q:What are you most excited about for this CSA season?
A:The Spring time is always such an exciting season and I really enjoy the renewed inspiration and that comes along with making a grouping of works like for the CSArt share. 

Q:What are some other art related internships, demonstrations, gallery showings, or publications you have been involved with?
A:I have shown my work internationally, received a fellowship from NCECA to study in China and, this is my second time participating in the CSArt Share.