I am interested in making things that are generally unseen, seen, and in making things that are vulnerable, visible. My current project is about seeing North America’s many hundreds of endangered animals and plants that now live on the cusp of extinction. Making pottery is how I understand the world, so I am making plates and covered jars—urns really—for these endangered species. I anticipate this to be a three to five year project. My job is to see and record these species, give them space and time. I want to find and share the beauty of each plant and animal by drawing its portrait. I cannot personally save the wolverine, or the bull trout, or the whitebark pine, or the western glacier stonefly, or the yellow-billed cuckoo, or any of the rest. I am a potter and a teacher. What I can do is make an unseen thing visible and show you how beautiful I think these plants and animals are.
— Julia Galloway
Julia Galloway is a Professor at the University of Montana in Missoula. Born and raised in Boston, she did her graduate studies at the University of Colorado, and her BFA at New York State College of Art & Design at Alfred University. Galloway’s work has been exhibited across the US, Canada, and Asia. It is included in the collections of the Renwick Gallery at the SmithsonianAmerican Art Museum, the Long Beach Art Museum, the Huntington Museum of Art, the Archie Bray Foundation and several other fine institutions. Galloway’s work has been published in Ceramics Monthly, Studio Potter, Art and Perception, Clay Times as well as several books about pottery and craft. She is the author of two service-based websites: Montana Clay and The Field Guide for Ceramics Artisans.