Arapahoe Community College had marvelous talent flooding the halls and supplying the town of Littleton with beautiful ceramic art. The Arapahoe Community College Clay Club partnered with the Arapahoe Ceramics Guild for the semi-annual Holiday Pottery Sale which began Nov. 30 and lasted till Dec. 2. The Guild is a non-profit organization that works with the Clay Club at ACC for each event. The Ceramics Holiday Sale was held in the Annex building at the college in the Colorado Gallery of the Arts, they were never shy on items. With a total of 29 artists, they showed the community their hard elegant work. They had hundreds of different items to be sold such as mugs, bowls, plates, figurines, jewelry, and much more. 

Melanie Unruh, the VP of Arapahoe Ceramics Guild took charge of the event and had a display of her own artwork at the event. Unruh has always been into art, since junior high, she says. Unruh declares art has always been her passion; she has a “need to create.” Art is an expression and Unruh beautifully speaks about her urgent feelings of wanting to create everything she imagines. She explains there are many ideas that run through her mind and not enough time to put everything out there. Once she decided that she wanted to be a professional artist she has since created many pieces of art in order to get her ideas out of her subconscious mind and into the world.

Melanie is also in charge of the marketing sales for the event. The group publishes a lot of posters throughout the school and the community. Although, they’re very social media heavy which is mainly how they get the word out. Using Facebook, the group posts important information out to the community by posting about events and sharing photos of the events as well. Their Facebook page is called “Arapahoe Ceramics Guild”.

When asked about how this event brings the community together, Unruh said, “Through marketing, we bring people in”.

Many people there were shopping for Christmas, one among them was Shayna Laing, who works at the college in the Main building at the college as the Elevate Academic Instructor. Since the event is scheduled semi-annually, the events are scheduled around Mother’s Day and Christmas. This adds more of an appeal for people to purchase beautiful art gifts for their loved ones as well as supporting the artists at the college.

Artist Laurie Tompkins is a student at the college and has been has been with the college since 2008. Tompkins has been interested in ceramics for twelve years and continues to create art, solely selling her art at the ACC events. 

Here’s a sample of her artwork…

Unruh’s favorite aspect of the event is the variety of art created by different artists that allow her to appreciate every piece. Every artist and piece of art has a story behind the creation, thus engulfing a bystander as to the inspiration. Every artist expresses their art differently which makes artist’s unique.

Unruh explains the marketing process and says that the prices are set based on the time an artist spent making the project as well as the skill of an artist, there were no guidelines on price. The art in the room ranged anywhere from $5-$200 or more.

These fellow artists showed off their amazing work at the event, here’s their contact information to see more of their incredible work.

• Lucinda Howe- Studio Potter ([email protected])
• Catherine Salazar- Artist Potter ([email protected])
• Lucy O’Neil- Potter ([email protected])
• Chris Nugen- Nuge Ceramics ([email protected])

Make sure to also check out Chris Nugen’s work on his Instagram page and website.

Instagram: @chrisnugen

Website: chrisnugen.bigcartel.com

In case you missed out on the event, the Arapahoe Ceramics Guild will be back in the Spring. So, make sure to check out their spring work and keep an eye out for dates on their Facebook page or posters throughout ACC.

The alluring effect of art is the expression of an artist’s desires, anxieties, fears, revenge, hate, disgust, and their love.

View more artwork from the featured artists below.

Gallery • 9 Photos