By Nicole Merkens

I slipped in early to see Celebration of Clay 2026 Clay Speaks of Home at Santa Fe Community College. The opening reception was set for March 5 from 4 to 6 pm at the Visual Arts Gallery, 6401 Richards Avenue in Santa Fe. I wanted the quiet before the crowd. I wanted to hear the work breathe.

The Visual Arts Gallery at the Santa Fe Community College, with the show, Clay Speaks of Home. Photo by Nicole Merkens. 

This year the show was blind juried by Elizabeth Hunt, Santa Fe, Serit deLopaz Kotowski, Taos, and Mary Sharp Davis, Albuquerque.  Seventy-six artists as well as the jurors stepped forward to wrestle with the notion “Clay Speaks of Home.”

That topic is not simple. It is loaded. It carries dust, memory, grief, safety and longing.

The gallery was full. Pieces lined the space in every shape and size. There were more than I could count. A display case greeted you at the entrance, like a small prologue before the main story unfolded.

The "Black Box" display. Photo by Nicole Merkens.

What struck me first was how personal and how vast the idea of home really is. Artists came from every corner of the Land of Enchantment. Their work did not whisper. It held its ground.

This kind of show asks something of you. It asks you to slow down. To stand in front of a piece longer than feels normal. To consider the hands that shaped it and the life behind those hands.

Pieces shown: Judy Nelson-Moore's "Long Road Home," Jennifer Dunn's "Bogue Sound Oyster." Photo by Nicole Merkens. 

There is a thick book of artist statements in the gallery. Do not skip it. Inside, you find the pulse behind the clay.

Jasper Eyrich Bingham writes, “This is my clay that speaks of a rugged home, a dark home, an authentic home. It is my place of retreat, where I go when there is nowhere else to go. The best place, or worst, is that it’s never far away.”

That line stayed with me. “Never far away”.

This is why we make art. Not to decorate a room, but to give form to the things we cannot say out loud. To purge what sits heavy in the chest. To build a place of retreat out of mud and fire.

Opening night carried its own charge. Artists stood near their pieces. Students moved in clusters. Collectors leaned in close. The room felt alive.

Pieces shown: Christiane Couvert's "Echoes in Blue and Ochre," Dorothy Bassett's "Vase 2," Lindsay Iliff's "Dire Beauty," Elaine Kidd's "Incense Burner," Michele English's "Pig in a Poke," and Steve Blakely's "Tempest" in foreground. Photo by Nicole Merkens. 

Congratulations to the winners of the night; Best in show: Luisa Baldinger. Coyote Color in Clay Award: Adam Emery. Arita Porcelain Award: Kathryne Cyman. Merit Award: Jasper Eyrich-Bingham. Merit Award: Greta Ruiz. Merit Award: Lin Johnson.

From vessels to animals, figures to creatures, from function to abstraction, the show stretches wide. It refuses to define home in one way.

I left thinking about my own.

Where am I going.
Where have I been.

The clay keeps asking.

Best of Show: Luisa Baldinger, "Jar." Photo by Leonard Baca. 

Coyote Color in Clay Award: Adam Emery, "Bem." Photo by Leonard Baca. 

Arita Porcelain Award for Quality, Beauty, Functionality:  Kathryne Cyman, "Life Force." Photo by Kathryne Cyman. 

Award of Merit: Jasper Eyrich-Bingham, "Restless Headspace." Photo by Leonard Baca. 

Award of Merit:  Lin Johnson, "Sad ... Oh My Country." Photo by Leonard Baca. 

Award of Merit: Greta Ruiz, "Terra Star." Photo by Leonard Baca. 

"Terra Star." By Greta Ruiz. Photo by Leonard Baca. 

Editor's note:

Nicole Merkens, NMPCA member, entered piece entitled, “Where Am I Going Where Have I Been Home Is Where The Heart Is," shown below. She describes her interests as “making clay relationships, and workshops.”