Joe Batt

Ceramic Artist

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About the Artist

Joe Batt is originally from South Dakota. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of South Dakota and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Montana. Currently, Joe is full time art faculty at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, Washington. He has also taught at California State University, Chico, California; the University of Montana, in Missoula, Montana; and Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington.

Joe’s recent work includes narrative clay figures, installation, and mixed media pieces which feature hares and children as the main characters. These works are part of an ongoing exploration of innocence, endurance, and our relationship with technology and the natural world.

Joe has been a McKnight Artist in Residence at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has also done residencies at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine, and at Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge, Montana. Currently, Joe is excited to be an exhibiting participant in Olympia’s Percival Plinth Project.

Like many artists, Joe has a music side. He has performed in many places in the Northwest and Midwest. Years of rock have lead to folk and old-time experimentation. In addition to recording projects done with previous bands, he has released two solo records of original songs.


RESUME

Joe Batt

Full time Art Faculty, South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, WA

EDUCATION

1990 Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of South Dakota, Vermillion

1993 Master of Fine Arts, University of Montana, Missoula

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2020 Connectivity, Solo Exhibition, Helen S. Smith Gallery, Green River College, Auburn, Washinton

2020 In the Cloud, Solo Exhibition, Forsberg Gallery, Lower Columbia College, Longview, Washington

2019 Late Night Lagomorphic Marauders, Solo Exhibition, Allsorts Gallery, Olympia, Washington

2018 In the Cloud, PUB Gallery, Peninsula College, Port Townsend, Washington

2016 In the Cloud, The Art Center, Washington State University Tri-Cities, Richland, Washington

2016 In the Cloud, Esvelt Gallery, Columbia Basin College, Pasco, Washington

2015 In the Cloud, The Gallery, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington

2015 In the Cloud, Cascade Gallery, Portland Community College, Cascade Campus, Portland, Oregon

2014 In the Cloud, Salon Refu, Olympia, Washingon

2012 In the Cloud, Brunswick Building Gallery, Missoula, Montana

2006 Late Night Creatures that Hop and Talk, Washington Pavilion Visual Arts Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

2005 Late Night Creatures that Hop and Talk, The Apex Gallery, Rapid City, South Dakota

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022 Southern Miss Ceramics National 2022, University of Southern Mississippi Museum of Art, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

2022 Small Feats of Clay 2022, International Juried Exhibition, Art League of Lincoln. Lincoln, California

2021 Home Sick, International Juried Exhibition, The Art Effect, Poughkeepsie, New York

2021 Small Works, International Juried Exhibition, Jag Gallery, Key West, Florida (In person and virtual)

2021 These Truths, Internaltional juried Exhibition, Gallery 114, Portland, Oregon (virtual)

2020 Small Expressions:19, National Juried Exhibition, Northwind Arts Center, Port Townsend, Washington

2020 CVG Juried Exhibition, Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA

2020 Percival Plinth Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, City of Olympia, Olympia, WA, June 2020 to June 2021

2019 While You Were Out: Annual Postcard Exhibition, The Gallery, South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, Washington, People’s Choice

2019 Missoula Art Museum’s 47th Annual Art Auction Exhibition, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, Montana

2018 Brunswick Gallery 40th Anniversary Invitational Exhibition, Missoula, Montana

2017 15th Annual Juried Exhibition, The Gallery, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington, Jurors’s Choice

2016 Summer Artist Invites Artist Group Exhibition, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, Montana

2015 Raw Transformations: Works from the Permanent Collection, Washington Pavilion Visual Arts Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

2013 Mystery of the Stars, Urban Art Project Space, Collaboration with Leslie Van Stavern Millar II, Great Falls, Montana

2012 Bridging the Gap, Group Ceramics Exhibit, NCECA Exhibit, Art Not Terminal Gallery, Seattle, Washington

2012 Centered on the Northwest, an invitational show featuring Northwest Clay Artists, NCECA Exhibit, Clay Art Center, Tacoma, Washington

2011 Washington Community College Humanities Association 30th Anniversary Exhibition Traveling Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima Valley Community College, Yakima, Washington, and PUB Gallery of Art, Peninsula College, Port Angeles, Washington

2010 On the Line: Watershed Artists, Stable Gallery, Damariscotta, Maine

2009 Ten Year Solo Artists Retrospective, Washington Pavilion of Visual Arts, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

2009 Group Exhibition, Childhood’s End Gallery, Olympia, Washington

2009 Rabbitual: Invitational Exhibition, Two Vaults Gallery, Tacoma, Washington

2008 Stories, Myths, and Legends: Group Invitational, Childhood’s End Gallery, Olympia, Washington

2007 Alone Together: Caravan Traveling Group Exhibition, Yellowstone Art Center, Billings, Montana,and Jesse Wilber Gallery at The Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture, Billings, Montana

2006 Animal Kingdom: Group Exhibition, Childhood’s End Gallery, Olympia, Washington

2006 Caravan Print Portfolio: Group Exhibition, Brunswick Gallery, Missoula, Montana

2005 Recycled Art Invitational, New York Fashion Academy, Seattle, Washington

2004 Man’s Best Friend, Invitational Group Exhibit, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, New Mexico

2003 Recounting Tales, Joe Batt and Wendy Franklund Miller, Lorinda Knight Gallery, Spokane Washington

2003 Sculptural Clay at the Modern Zoo, Modern Zoo Gallery Space, Portland, Oregon, Curated by Ted Vogel

SELECTED WORKSHOPS AND ARTIST TALKS

2020   Artist Talk, (virtual), Helen S. Smith Gallery, Green River College, Auburn, Washington

2020 Workshop and Artist Lecture, Lower Columbia College, Longview, Washington                                                                 

2019 Artist talk and narrative clay figures workshop, Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts, Victoria, British Columbia

2018 Artist talk and critiques with students, Peninsula College, Port Angeles, Washington

2017 Demonstration of mixed media on clay, Process Room, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Portland, Oregon

2017 Workshop presenter, Washington Clay Arts Association Summer Social, Arbutus Folk School, Olympia, Washington

2016 Guest speaker, Columbia Basin College, Pasco, Washington

2016 Gallery Talk, The Art Center, Washington State University Tri-Cities, Richland, Washington

2016 Artist talk, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, Montana

2015 Artist talk, Portland Community College, Cascadia Campus, Portland, Oregon

2015 Gallery talk, The Gallery, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington

2014 Guest speaker, weekly noon lecture series, Dunedin School of Art at Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, New Zealand

2014 Gallery talk, Salon Refu, for In the Cloud installation, Olympia Washington

2011 Clay workshop, Squaxin Island Tribe Museum, Library, and Research Center, Kamilche, Washington

2010 Artist talk, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, Maine

2010 Tile workshop, with combined Middle Eastern studies and math classes, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2019 OLY ARTS multi-platform arts publication, Christian, Susan. Joe Batt’s Bullies, Olympia, Washington, April 10

2018 Peninsula Daily News, ‘In the Cloud” highlights digital age, Port Angeles, Washington, January 5

2017 Sights and Sounds Portland, featured in NCECA presenter interviews, presented by Pottery Making Illustrated and Ceramics Monthly, March

2017 Weekly Volcano, Clayton, Alec. Faculty and Staff Exhibition at SPSCC, Olympia, Washington, September 28

2016 Tri-City Herald, Schilling, Sara. New Art Exhibit at WSU Tri-Cities Ponders impact of ‘the cloud’, Richland, Washington, January 31

2015 Tacoma Weekly, Davidson, David R. Ceramic artist Joe Batt explores ubiquity of digital technology, Tacoma, Washington, November 12

2015 Weekly Volcano, Clayton, Alec. Joe Batt’s ‘In the Cloud’ a breathtaking installation full of wonderment, Tacoma, Washington, November 25

2014 The Weekly Volcano, Clayton, Alec. Postcard Show Returns to SPSCC, Olympia, Washington, January 23

2013 Crosscurrents, Washington Community College Humanities Association Art and Literary Publication

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

2019 People’s Choice, While You Were Out: Annual Postcard Exhibition, The Gallery, South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, Washington

2018 Exceptional Faculty Award, Food for Thought Project, along with Liza Brenner, South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, Washington

2017 Juror’s Choice, 15th Annual Juried Exhibition, The Gallery, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington

2015 Exceptional Faculty Fine and Performing Arts Award, South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, Washington

2011 Exceptional Faculty Fine and Performing Arts Award South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, Washington

2009 Olympia Artswalk Map Cover XXXIX, Olympia Arts Commission, Olympia, Washington

2007 Kiln God Artist In Residence, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, Maine

2000 McKnight Artist Residency for Ceramic Arts, three month funded collaboration with Kelly Connole, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The mixed media collages are multilayered compositions, or studies, using photographs of my drawings, clay pieces, and installations. These are done using an application on a tablet or a Mac. They began as a kind of scrapbook process to capture the temporary excitement of drawing on a gallery wall, or seeing the same installation work in different spaces. The digital collages illuminate some of the magical, creative process that leads to the finished pieces and which might continue beyond them.

Why hares? My first encounters with these hopping lagomorphs were as a child living in South Dakota. They were quick, fearless, and timid. They could endure the cold, and they seemed to never sleep. Many years later I continue to return to the physical form of the hare and the wild nature of the animal to speak on human terms about innocence, endurance, and perhaps explore our relationship with nature.

I’ve been inspired by narrative ceramic art of Edith Garcia and Arthur Gonzalez. It’s hard to miss the Robert Arneson and California Funk influence in my small glazed marauders. Cement figure sculptor Isaac Cordal’s work also fascinates me. Lately I’m amazed by the large mixed media pieces of Bordalo II (Artur Bordalo).

I’m fortunate to get endless inspiration from teaching young artists, and working with talented colleagues every day. I’m grateful for the rich creative engagement of artists and art lovers in Olympia and the region.

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