Danielle Callahan

Bio:

 

A born (1963) & raised Minnesotan living in PA, Danielle Callahan appreciates adaptability.  She has a BFA in Studio Arts with Painting & Drawing concentrations.  Holding multiple jobs throughout college required extending a "4 year degree" to 7 years. Social justice & childcare work were other occupying focuses.  Nearly a decade post graduation, trips to Belfast & Inishmore, Ireland inspired her to explore visually again. She initiated a foray into glass sculpture, which segued into wood fired ceramics thanks to a Jerome Foundation/St. John's Pottery Artist Fellowship.  Callahan's time with infants & toddlers continues to inform her willingness to experiment.  

Curator & longtime friend Allyson Evans observes, "Danielle's work with clay is rhythmic and simple, not fussy...(she) works with what happens, making purpose out of mishap in a beautiful way."    

 

Artist Statement:

 

Much of my work starts with play. 

Energy is crucial to creating & raw clay suits my approach.  I cut, poke, drop, splay, twist, press & sometimes re-attach sliced off or fallen pieces.  Favorite sticks, rocks, bricks & my fingers prod a form;  experiences & observations emerge.  Layers are intriguing, so I embrace wood firing, open to both rugged & subtle results. I also happily employ a range of found or gifted items like nails, cloth, wire & wood.  Essentially, dialogs & relationships between materials & people fascinate me.  Everyone has exposures to call on and we react in our own way to textures, patterns & colors.  Emotional, intellectual, spiritual or undefined, there is power in concocting.

 

Bodies of work include chunky gestural ceramic sculptures and dynamic wall panels, in addition to drawings & paintings. (Unfired clay-allowed to deteriorate-is an alluring new avenue for me.) Wall panels are comprised of handmade tiles, individually rolled, cut & often pressed into sidewalk cracks, tree bark or grass outside.  Sculptures are mainly intense focused releases. All works divulge & may convey a range of emotions. (Wonder, joy, confusion, frustration, despair...) On-going health struggles can infiltrate my work, as well as concerns for community, US & world. 

 

I'm humbled my Partner sees my art as imbued with "animus" (Latin)-a conveyance of my purpose, spirit, soul, breath.

 

 

CV

 

BFA Studio Arts-Drawing/Painting.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

Pioneer Fund Scholarship  for mixed media work.

 

Glass Artist Assistant to Joseph Becker & Peter Zelle, MN

 

FELLOWSHIP 

Jerome Foundation & St. John's Pottery Emerging Artist  (2000), MN

Johanna Kiln Fifth wood firing with Richard Bresnahan, Collegeville, MN

"Body of Clay, Soul of Fire" Traveling Exhibition Featuring Art of

Richard Bresnahan, Apprentices & Emerging Artists.     

MN, WI, ND & SD.                                                               2001 -2003

*sculpture in book Body of Clay, Soul of Fire by Dr. Mathew Welch.

 

GRANTS 

Contemporary Glass Philadelphia (CGP) Grantee.    2002

 

EXHIBITIONS 

National Biennial Contemporary Clay 2022 

Juror:  Fong Choo

The Art Center, Western Colorado Center for the Arts

Grand Junction, CO                   May/June 2022

 

Little Things Matter: Small Scale Sculpture

Juror: George Beasley

U of Southern MS Gallery of Art and Design

Hattiesburg, Mississippi           Oct/Nov  2021

 

Women of Woodfire

Juror:  Brett Binford

Eutectic Gallery

Portland, Oregon                   June 2021

 

HOME

Juror: Susanna Gold

Duke Gallery

Community Arts Center, Wallingford, PA.         February/March    2021

 

The Clay Studio National

Jury Team: Sana Musasama, Lauren Sandler & Kukuli Velarde.

The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA.                  July/August   2020

 

National Contemporary Clay 2020 Biennial Juried Exhibition

Juror: Bill van Gilder.

The Art Center, Western Colorado Center for the Arts.       June 2020

 

The Great Divide         

Juror: Bruce Dehnert.                                

Morean Center for Clay, St. Petersburg, FL.        Dec. 2019-Jan 2020

 

Earth Devised: A National Exhibition of Ceramic Art

Juror: Richard "Rick" Nickel.

The d'Art Center, Norfolk, VA           2019

 

Shapes of Influence National Ceramic Biennial

Juror:  Simon Levin.

Springfield Art Association.  Springfield, IL                             2018

 

Contemporary Clay 2018 National Biennial   

Juror: Doug Casebeer.

The Art Center, Western Colorado Center for the Arts.       2018                                               

 

HWD 12th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition

Juror: Patrick Mauk.

Rosewood Arts Centre, Kettering, OH                                  2018

 

8th Regional Juried Biennial Exhibition 

Juror: Ben Simons.

Corkran and Tubbs Galleries, Rehoboth Art League, DE     2018

 

A Celebration of Art & Life

Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine,

Philadelphia, PA                                                   2013, 2014, 2015

 

Philadelphia Photo Arts Center Member Show                2014

 

Landscape Exhibition

Large scale temporary mixed media installation.

Schuylkill Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

 

Hot Soup CGP Grant Recipient Exhibition  Philadelphia, PA       2002

 

Moravian Pottery & Tileworks Festival Artist, Doylestown, PA

The Dreamer Lens cd cover art collaboration, Chester, PA

 

INSTALLATIONS & SITE WORKS  

"Labyrinth Sculpture" Up-cycled Chestnut beam inlaid w/tree bark textured tiles, copper sheet.

Peter Becker Community, Harleysville, PA

 

"My North Philly" Multi-year project with Philadelphia Mural Arts.

Community Tile Workshop Artist/Facilitator & Installer 

Kensington & Nicetown/Tioga neighborhoods, Philadelphia, PA          2006-2007

 

Butterfly Tile Bench  Concrete sculpture butterfly form embedded with handmade wood fired tiles.

St. John's Arboretum Prairie Restoration Project.  Collegeville, MN   

 

"Glass Rocks" Blown glass sculpture forms integrated into existing stone walls.

Inis Mor, Aran Islands, Ireland

 

Private commissions.