2025 NCECA Cornerstone Exhibitions Opening Reception

Join us for the opening reception for four new exhibitions at UMOCA, including NCECA Annual: True and Real, NCECA Multicultural Fellowship Exhibition, NCECA Juried Student Exhibition, and new work by Amanda Smith in the Projects Gallery.

Featuring works by invited artists Syd Carpenter, Simone Leigh, Roberto Lugo, Tip Toland, and Steven Young Lee, alongside 35 juried artists, the 2025 NCECA Annual Exhibition: True and Real examines ceramics as a chronicle of contemporary social change, using the medium’s intimate and expressive qualities to navigate the evolving intersections of identity, technology, and the human experience.

The 2025 NCECA Multicultural Fellowship Exhibition includes select works by 14 past recipients of NCECA’s Multicultural Fellowship, juried by multidisciplinary ceramic artist and Associate Professor at Arizona State University School of Art Jennifer Ling Datchuk.

Showcasing works by students from across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the 2025 NCECA Juried Student Exhibition highlights emerging voices in ceramics, selected by jurors Adrienne Eliades and Nicole Seisler.

The opening will also include performances of UK-based artist Garima Tripathi’s A Daughter’s Chants | Feminist Mandalas at 6 pm and 7 pm. In this 5 minute performance, Garima Tripathi will create a sound space with her Feminist Mandalas in the Main Gallery. She will use musical and cacophonous sounds of fired ceramics as non-verbal chants, which are etched with stories about being a daughter in a patriarchal setup. The words on the plates are truths and prayers about gendered oppression and the tender connection between a mother and a daughter.