Mar 15, 2018 5 min read

A group of Burgettstown High School students will have an interesting opportunity Friday as attendees of the 52nd Annual Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA).

Former Slippery Rock University professor Dr. Richard Wukich donated the conference fee for 10 Burgettstown students to attend after meeting art teacher David Roth.

“This is a great opportunity for the students to glimpse the breadth of all that is possible with ceramics outside of their small town experience,” Roth said. “Art can be a bridge that connects them to a wider world.”

Wukich, international coordinator for Potters Water Action Group, was taken to his first NCECA conference by his mentor, the late ceramics artist Val Cushing. The experience of being among thousands of others interested in ceramic arts was invaluable. Providing the funds for students to attend, he said, is his way of paying it forward.

“I happened to meet Roth at an event and we had a conversation. I love to know teachers. As a retired college teacher, I’ve been doing this over the years, giving out scholarships for students and teachers to come to NCECA,” said Wukich. “I guarantee you these kids will be transformed.”

The event will feature innovative labs and discussions with masters and historians in the field of ceramic arts. Wukich, who serves on this year’s conference steering committee, expects about 6,500 top clay artists from around the world to attend.

The conference takes place Wednesday through Saturday in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh. This year’s theme, “CrossCurrents: Clay and Culture,” will reflect Pittsburgh as a city of rivers, bridges, complex immigrant history, gritty perseverance and reinvention.

During the conference, clay enthusiasts gather to share knowledge and celebrate and critique work in arts, culture, teaching and learning, said Roth, who hopes students come away from the experience knowing they have the potential to change the world.

“Their desire, their imagination and their talent is all that they need to help those less fortunate,” Roth said. “The work of Dr. Wukich and the Potters’s Water Action Group aligns with my number one rule in my art class: always have the good of others in mind.”

As international coordinator, Wukich has worked to set up production studios across the globe in countries like Haiti, Nigeria and Nepal to provide safe drinking water. Ceramic water filters, made by combining clay with combustible materials like sawdust, remove 95 percent of microbiological particulate matter in the water. If the filter is coated with colloidal silver, the effectiveness of the filters increases to essentially 100 percent.

Wukich coordinated a mini-symposium to be held during the conference in which artists and activists from all over the world will discuss the importance of the water filters and give demonstrations on creating them.

Roth, an art teacher at Burgettstown for 20 years, selected the students to attend based on their demonstrated motivation to positively impact society, and for their love for ceramic arts. They are Cameron Lonchar, Maggie Latkovic, Ashley Tasz, Emily Kraeer, Miranda Schramm, Madison Banaszak, Hailey Scopel, Samantha Roner, Erin Smith and Elka Hoelsken.

“I am sure I speak for all of the administrators when I say how much I appreciate any opportunity our students can have with professional artists working successfully in their craft,” said Burgettstown Superintendent James Walsh in an email.

Walsh said art and music programs in the school, such as those funded by the Rural Arts Collaborative and Benedum Foundation, are positive for students. Currently, an artist-in-residence comes in weekly to work with instrumental music students.

“These are all amazing opportunities for our students to delve deeply into the arts with professional artists’ guidance, which we know positively impacts a student’s overall academic success,” Walsh said. “We hope to continue these collaborations for as long as we can find supporters like Dr. Wukich.”

Roth, who is grateful to the administration, school board and community for supporting the arts in Burgettstown, has had an interest in working with clay since he was a student.

“At the high school level, I became interested in wheel-throwing from watching a talented classmate. (He) could shape a lump of clay into something sublimely beautiful in a matter of minutes,” he said. “It seemed like pure magic to me.”

Though retired, Wukich continues to advocate for the arts. He said artists have the potential to solve real problems.

“It’s about creativity and exercising your brain,” said Wukich, adding that art is a profitable industry. “The message I want to give these kids and teachers is that we’re going to use art to make positive social change.”

Roth and Wukich are coordinating an upcoming visit to Burgettstown by Wukich. Other artists, including Jim and Linda Winegar, owners of the former Artbeat in Waynesburg, have held ceramic workshops with Roth’s students.

For more information, visit www.nceca.net.