'Architecture of Touch' Ceramics Exhibit To Open At MB Art Center

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — An exploration of ceramics and local artists will be the next featured exhibit at the Manhattan Beach Art Center.

Architecture of Touch: Manhattan Beach Ceramics Showcase, curated by Interim Cultural Arts Supervisor and Art Center curator Eric Brinkman, will open online Friday, April 16, at 6 p.m. and is scheduled to run through June 27.

"We'd like to reopen in a limited capacity as Covid regulations permit," Cultural Arts Acting Manager and local artist Eilen Stewart told Patch. "We're still waiting for further updates."

Live Oak Ceramics Studio offers classes for youth, teens, and adults, and the city typically holds bi-annual exhibits to showcase those artworks.

"Because classes have been temporarily canceled due to COVID, this exhibit will feature the work of the staff and instructors," Stewart said. "We want people to be delighted and surprised by the ceramic creations. We want them to explore the artists' techniques, the materials they used, to ask why they fired a piece in a certain way. It will be very beautiful and interactive."

Stewart's porcelain creation, “Domestic Mandala, Eight Days a Week," will be one of the featured pieces.

Other artists to be included in the exhibition are Brinkman, Stacey Wexler, Shane Foley, and Mitsuko Ikeno. There will also be a youth exhibit in the B Gallery.

Micro youth ceramic classes are still being held and are available by appointment. "We want the young people to be able to be able to express themselves, especially during this difficult time," Stewart said.

The Manhattan Beach Art Center will continue to update exhibition information. The Live Oak Ceramics will also update class schedules when they become available.