Balistreri has been in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the U.S.  His work has been published in a number of publications including Ceramics: Art and Perception, Ceramics Monthly and American Craft and he was selected as an NCECA Emerging Artist in 1995.  He has conducted many workshops throughout the U.S. and his work is in numerous museums and public and private collections.

Balistreri is the head of a research team at Bowling Green State University that is involved with using 3D rapid prototyping technology to create ceramic objects.  He has patents pending on formulas for powders and binders, as well as innovations to existing machines to improve the viability of printing ceramics three dimensionally from digital files.

Curtis holds an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York, and has exhibited both nationally and internationally.  His work is included in such publications as Ceramics: Art and Perception, Neue Keramik and Seramik Tükiye, and the recent books Breaking the Mould: New Approaches to Ceramics and Tangible: High Touch Visuals.

Curtis’s work, which draws inspiration from both digital technology and homebrew DIY makers, examines the effects of high technology on the relationship between human beings and the natural environment.  Despite the negative connotations often associated with this relationship, Curtis’s work remains playfully optimistic, invoking the alluring possibilities inviting forms.

Additional information can be found at www.chaddcurtis.com.

Ayumi Horie is a studio potter in the Hudson Valley of New York who has developed a distinctive online community utilizing social networks to support her studio practice.  Horie is making work in earthenware and porcelain that draws inspiration from folk traditions and comics in the U.S. and Japan.

Horie received her MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, her BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York, and her BA from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.  She is on the board of directors of the Archie Bray Foundation and has taught many workshops on functional ceramics and the Internet across the U.S. and internationally, including the Archie Bray Foundation, Montana; Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina; Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Tennessee; Greenwich House Pottery, New York; Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Maine; International Ceramic Research Center, Denmark; Northern Clay Center, Minnesota; University of Florida; Louisiana State University; Penn State; Rhode Island School of Design; Rochester Institute of Technology; and Syracuse University, among others.

Horie is widely regarded as a leader in combining craft and the Internet, becoming a model for making full-time studio pottery economically viable and promoting ceramics to a wider audience.  In 2008, she organized Obamaware for Obama’s bid for presidency, the first online ceramic fundraiser of its kind, which raised nearly $11,000 in a record-setting amount of time.

Additional information can be found at www.ayumihorie.com.

KleinReid is a New York-based porcelain design studio that stands at the forefront of contemporary studio pottery.

The firm’s founders, James Klein and David Reid, received their MFAs in art from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York,  and Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, respectively.  The duo began collaborating as KleinReid in 1993, hand-making elegant vases, objects, lighting and servingware, and more recently soft goods, jewelry and limited edition prints.  Their collections have made a significant impact on tabletop and home design, and their New York City atelier is renowned for its elegant forms; confident style; dense, translucent porcelain; artisanal glazes; and fine “from scratch” craftsmanship.

KleinReid’s trend-setting yet refined style has attracted a following and its wares are sought by museums, collectors, celebrities and politicos alike.  The studio’s wares have been extensively shown nationally and internationally in gallery and museum exhibition, including several solo shows.  They also retail in design stores and stylish boutiques worldwide, and grace television and movie sets.  As an influential tastemaker, KleinReid has designed collections for prestigious firms including Herman Miller and Dansk.

KleinReid’s founders herald more than 15 years of collaboration—a shared personal vision to create objects they love and have fun doing it.  Each new collection elegantly conveys goals that have remained consistent since KleinReid’s inception: thoughtful design, fine craftsmanship and lasting beauty.

Additional information can be found at www.kleinreid.com.

Bobby Silverman is an artist and designer who lives and works in New York City.  After 20 years in higher education he left academia to start Alsio Design, a company which consults, designs and manufacturers ceramic tile.

He received his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York, his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, and his BA in Social Geography from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

His work has been exhibited internationally and is in many public and private collections, including the Museum of Arts and Design, New York City; the European Ceramic Workcentre, s’Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands; The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina; and the Renwick Gallery/Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

He has received fellowships from the Louisiana State Council for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts and the Southern Arts Federation/National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship.

He has taught and lectured in China, the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.

Steven Thurston is a former industrial sculptor for General Motors Design Department who now uses digital imaging technology such as MRI and 3D optical scanning to capture information for use with both Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) and rapid prototyping.  Since 1994, Thurston has been on the faculty at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Thurston received his MFA in 1992 from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and his BFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Thurston has been an artist-in-residence at The Alternative Works Site at Bemis in Omaha, Nebraska; the Europees Keramik Werk Centrum in Den Bosch, the Netherlands; the Keramik Werkcentrum, Berlin; and during the summer of 2007 he participated in the Greater Columbus Arts Council Artist Exchange in Dresden, Germany. While in Dresden he was fortunate to be an artist-in-residence at the Sächsische Porzellan-Manufaktur. In 2008 he returned to the Sächsische Porzellan-Manufaktur and participated in the factory’s 135th celebration held at the Kugelhaus, in Dresden, Germany.

Thurston has received numerous awards for his research, including the prestigious Pollack-Krasner Fellowship; a NEA Regional Fellowship; the 1996, 1999 and 2007 Ohio Arts Council Individual Fellowship; as well as a 1996, 2006 and a 2010 Greater Columbus Arts Councils Individual Fellowship.

He has exhibited and lectured nationally and internationally on his work and on the integration of new technologies within a studio setting. Through a series of collaborations with wife and partner Rebecca C. Harvey he co-founded Rough and Perfect.

“Rough and Perfect began as a way to connect the studio to the world—a way to bring the lovely things that we like to make for our house to your house.”

Additional information can be found at www.roughandperfect.com

John Williams is a studio artist and educator who utilizes new technologies in his teaching practice as well as in his environmentally themed work.  Williams is currently a resident artist at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He received his MFA from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and his BA in Leadership Studies from the University of Richmond in Virginia.  He has been a resident artist at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Cub Creek Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Virginia and Cité des Arts International in Paris.  He has held teaching positions at the State University of New York at New Paltz in New York, Longwood University in Virginia and Rowan University in New Jersey.

In 2009, Williams was awarded an Independence Fellowship to pursue innovative applications of computer-aided drafting (CAD) and compressed air management (CAM) technologies to the ceramic arts.  His work has been exhibited widely, and in 2009, he was honored with an Emerging Artist Award by NCECA.

Jennifer Woodin is an artist, designer and educator working in the field of ceramics.  Originally from California, she has recently joined the faculty of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at the State University of New York at New Paltz where she is an assistant professor teaching in the areas of digital design and ceramics.

Woodin received her MFA from the University of Oregon, which she received to start her second career in the arts.  She first received a BFA in mechanical engineering from California State University, Chico, and continued on to practice an eight-year career in both mechanical and civil engineering.  Her research and practice combine aspects of her two careers, forming a unique line of inquiry.