Samuel's profile

Samuel Wallace is a traditional Jamaican potter who learned to make pots with his extended family in the backyard pottery sheds in rural St. Elizabeth parish. Wallace became a resident artist at Baltimore Clayworks in 1993, after he found the organization in the yellow pages while looking for kiln rental. He was, at that time, producing highly decorated work of exquisite beauty from native Maryland stoneware gathered near Memorial Stadium in inner city Baltimore.

In the ensuing year, Wallace began to teach his ecologically harmonious way of pottery making to others, and with the support from the Folk Arts and Children’s Programs of the Maryland State Arts Council, conducted several highly successful school residencies. By 1998, Samuel Wallace had led 28 school residencies and had been a presenter at the National Art Education Association Conference. In 1995, he was the centerpiece of a Baltimore Clayworks residency project, From the Ground Up, which placed Wallace for one month each in four of Maryland’s most rural counties. He also presented a workshop for the New Hampshire Potter’s Guild, and exhibited his work at Philips/Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Wallace was also a featured demonstrator of his techniques at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference in New Orleans in 1995.

He has been artist in residence at The Village of Arts and Humanities in inner city Philadelphia and at Reynolds Homestead Art Center in rural Crietz, Virginia, both through the Artist as Catalyst residency program of the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation. For five years, he taught the after school and summer art component for Clayworks at the McKim Community Center in historic Jonestown, as well as the Saturday Bright Starts program for the Mayor’s Advisory Committee in Baltimore City. Furthermore, he has conducted clay classes at School 33 Art Center in South Baltimore and at John Eager Howard Recreation Center in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood of Baltimore City.

In January 2015, Wallace led a group of his Baltimore students on a cultural exploration of his hometown in Jamaica. He shared stories of his early influences and arranged for several outings, including demonstrations and in-depth tours of his clay mentor’s studio and that of another clay artist in a neighboring town.

Wallace continues to teach and exhibit his work largely in a residency format, while a resident artist and employed as technician at Baltimore Clayworks.

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