Help Art Department Clemson University MFA Alum Brent Pafford Take Advantage of the Anderson Ranch Presidential Scholarship He Secured!

Southern Intentions: Prints, Pots, & Provisions. Corsicana, TX. June 6, 2015 (Photo by Benjamin Hines)

Brent Pafford, Clemson University MFA Alum (ceramics emphasis 2014), has been offered a Presidential Scholarship to attend a workshop at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in the summer of 2016. He plans to register for "Make. Eat. Think: the art of breaking bread" - with Alleghany Meadows - an artists Brent has been following since he started making pots - and Guest Chef Mark Fischer.  To help him achieve his goal, he has started a Go Fund Me campaign! 

Alleghany Meadows is founder of the Artstream Nomadic Gallery and Artstream Library. The focus of this lending library is "The Artstream Ceramic Library is a social-outreach project whose mission is to connect contemporary functional ceramics with ordinary people. Similar in structure to a literature-based library, the Ceramic Library loans out unique handmade cups made by thirteen nationally-known potters, for a period of seven days." 

Alleghany was a visiting artist at Clemson Univeristy through planning and funding provided by the Clemson Ceramics Association  in 2014. During his stay at Clemson he workshopped and met with students individually, approaching conversations with professional experience and genuine interest. His constructive criticism, depth of knowledge in the field, and advice to Brent to "clean out" his studio had an extensive impact on the direction of his work before moving into his thesis and projects thereafter. 

Brent has recently worked with two great artists, Adrienne Litchliter and Lindsey Byrd, to bring Southern Intentions: Prints, Pots, & Provisions to life in the past year. Southern Intentions is an art and dining collaboration between a printmaker, a potter, and a chef that integrates art practice into the experience of Southern dining. The concept of this course - "to combine two great artistic endeavours to focus on ceramic art for the modern-day dining experience" - will propel and strengthen Brent's studio practice, allowing for new conceptual developments, materials research, and explorations of form and process. And, most importantly, it will support his professional trajectory into full time studio "potter(dom)." Now to the nitty gritty - what is he asking from you, dear reader?

Porcelain Plate. Southern Intentions: Prints, Pots, & Provisions. Corsicana, TX. June 6, 2015
(Photo by Benjamin Hines, Salad by Lindsey Byrd)

Brent has broken down his budget for complete transparency:

Anderson Ranch Presidential Scholarship allocated funds cover half of the tuition of the course totaling $737.50.

Funds Needed:
1/2 Tuition - $737.50
Flights, DC to Aspen and return - $592.00 (as of 3/23/16)
Lodging/Meals at Anderson Ranch (for 2 weeks) - $990.00
Missed income while attending workshop (includes utilities, rent, studio rent, insurance at home) - $500.00
Total - $2,819.50 

A link to Brent's Go Fund Me campaign!  https://www.gofundme.com/brentpafford 

On March 23rd, Brent learned that he was awarded the scholarship to attend his selected course. This means he needs to raise the funds by April 1, 2016! If he does not reach his goal by April 1, Anderson Ranch will award the allocated scholarship funds to another recipient.

This opportunity is a dream come true for him: He has followed Alleghany's work since first seeing it stapled to a cork board wall outside the ceramics studio at Winthrop University where he studied under Jim Connell and Ingrid Bathe. As he develop as an artist he continued to look at Alleghany's work and practices as a source of inspiration.

Thank you all for your time and consideration. Go Tigers! Again, here is the link to Brent's Go Fund Me campaign!