GALLERY: Texas Clay Festival draws crowds to historic Greune district

For the 26th year in a row, Gruene, a historical district of New Braunfels, hosted the Texas Clay Festival on Oct. 27-28. This juried show featured the work of over 80 artists from across Texas and four tents holding demos for guest throughout the weekend.

The events serve both guests and artists alike. Guest are able to meet and buy work from their favorite artist and artists are able to better establish themselves. Sponsors and ceramics non-profits are able to promote future shops and workshops to both the artist in the show and the guests of the festival.

Though the festival is held on the grounds of The Barn Pottery, many visitors took this chance to explore Gruene’s historical sites such as the Gruene’s Dance Hall. This hall boasts itself to be one of the oldest dance halls in the state.

Gruene was founded in the mid-1800s by German immigrants. Until the devastation of the boll weevils in the 1920s and then the Great Depression soon after, it was a booming town mostly in the business of cotton farming. In the last few decades of the 1900s, Greene was annexed by New Braunfels and the entire district was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

While attending the Texas Clay Festival, the UHCL Art Association ate at The Gristmill, another building that was given a second life in the late 1970s. The former cotton mill was given a National Register of Historic Places marker in 1975 and within two years was repurposed into a multilevel restaurant overlooking the Guadalupe River.

The Texas Clay Festival’s inaugural year was hosted in Greune October 1993 and has been held there ever since.

26th annual Texas Clay Festival

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Betsy Evans’ armadillos and goats sculpture symbolize the power of resilience and perseverance. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

This 18-inch clay sculpture of purple roller skating chickens was created by artist Carol Schwartz. Traveling from right outside of San Marcos, Schwartz’s sculptural and functional ceramics focuses on storytelling. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Texas Clay Festival alum Randy Brodnax fired these four metallic vessels by a firing process called Raku. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

These frog sculptures and vessels are also by artist Randy Brodnax. Each work has his name hidden somewhere on the piece. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

In addition to selling work, many artists perform demos on their process every year. Demos, like Jenny Smith’s here, give guests a chance to ask specific questions to the artist with physical examples. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Ryan Lucier, a studio potter at Rhyno Clayworks in Austin, specializes in functional art such as pots, cups and plates. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

The historic Greune water tower is both an icon of the district and of the Texas Clay Festival. Nearly every year, the water tower is featured on the poster design. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

One of the youngest artists accepted this year, Renee LoPresti talks with a festival guest about her work. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Jess Wade hand-builds portraits from “the collective unconscious.” In addition to being artists, Jess and Jamie Lea Wade also work as curators in central Texas. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Jamie Wade’s work is a combination of handbuilt and thrown, but all reflect back to things found in nature. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

OMBC Studio artist Ross Grady High’s moon men series challenges him to create personality and humanize figures without a face. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

rodnax, in the reflective vest, gave several firing demos in the center of the festival. Across the table laid ready-to-fire ceramic piece as well as specials glazes and horse hair. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Lebeth Lammers creates colorful collage style functional art. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Before becoming a potter, Owens was a classically trained ballerina for over 16 years. Now she is one of the many artists from the “Eye of the Dog Art Center,” located in San Marcos, selling work at the Texas Clay Festival. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Using cool colors Kym Owens creates handmaid functional vessels and dishes. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Bridget Hauser’s demo focused on layers of surface techniques such as carving, inlay and handling. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Many artists, like Alejandra Almuelle, use another skill like portrait drawing to decorate their ceramics. Originally from Peru, Almuelle now creates work in Austin. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Almuelle also uses more abstracted designs inside her functional ceramics. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

After retiring from the journalism, Ty Johnson took up working with clay and lots of his work involves humor, sarcasm and animals. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Houston artist, Roy Hanscom, constructs ornate serving dishes by throwing multiples on a wheel and attaching them together. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Traveling from San Angelo, Texas, Michelle Cuevas handbuilds functional art such as boxes, plates and cups. Cuevas also creates Dia de los muertos influneced work showing symbols of death next to colors associated with life. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Jolea Arcidiacono excited for the 2nd and final day of the Texas Clay Festival. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Arcidiacono “sculptures are a reflection of my varied attributes—silly, strange, grumpy, quirky, amused, cheerful, dark.” Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Michaela Dillman, art and design student, models for Arcidiacono. Using webcam filter to create silly faces, Arcidiacono gets a variety of exaggerated faces as references for her work. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Dillman, contributing to the layers of graffiti on this sculpture. Arcidiacono brought this back this activity from the 2017 festival so that guest can leave a message or doodle. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Across the street from the festival and around other historical building sits the Gruene Mansion Inn Bed and Breakfast. Photo by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

Attending the Texas Clay Festival is one of the Art Association's many long-standing traditions. Pictured clockwise from top right: Aileen Kelly, Karen Fiscus, Kelley Wilson, Cleo Kantz, Alyssa Shotwell and Michaela Dillman. Photo courtesy of Michaela Dillman.