Our September General Meeting features Diana Kersey, accomplished San Antonio
ceramicist, who will tell us about her art installations and the beautiful ollas she has created.

PROGRAM TOPIC
Diana will share a slide presentation of some of her work exhibited in here in San Antonio in indoor and outdoor spaces. All have an environmental theme, illustrating the lives of
organisms found in our south Texas region. You may have seen one of her works, the ceramics mounted on the Mulberry St. bridge in Brackenridge Park showing the life cycle of
the Texas Bull Frog in beautiful turquoise, blue, and green ceramic oval tiles. Diana will also show us the unique ollas she has created, how she conceives and crafts them, and provide examples of how they have been used here in San Antonio (e.g. Beacon Hill Community Garden). Ollas (unglazed clay pots) are an old yet efficient irrigation technology especially important in times of drought. The pots, partially buried in the soil and
filled with water, provide a slow, consistent moisture supply to adjacent plants simply by osmosis and capillary action, without wasteful evaporation, percolation, or runoff. The soil
surface remains dry, discouraging seedling weed growth. With addition of a cap, evaporative loss and mosquito growth are minimized.

For more information:

1. Diana Kersey's website: https://www.dianakersey.com

2. An interview with the speaker: https://www.tpr.org/arts-culture/2020-06-17/san-antonios-diana-kersey-a-life-molded-into-works-of-art

3. The speaker discusses her ollas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI5OfjHwTyU

4. More on ollas: https://www.buildwithrise.com/stories/ollas-in-the-garden https://files.constantcontact.com/c2115e3d101/efa6319d-8613-4eb7-a9bf-707020db4d60.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqblzO3kCNs

SPEAKER
Diana Kersey is a visual artist working exclusively in clay, from small studio pieces to large indoor and outdoor architectural installations. Her work reconnects us with the earth, as a
response to the barrier our urban environment creates between ourselves and nature, a barrier that makes climate change and environmental destruction easier to ignore. Her
sculpted images of birds, insects, fish, and flowers suggest a shared primordial narrative, in a style instantly identifiable with its muscular, spontaneous qualities of the material
enhanced with colorful, translucent glazes. Her public works have been commissioned by the City of San Antonio (e.g. San Pedro Creek Culture Park), VIA Metropolitan Transit, The
San Antonio River Authority, the City of Harlingen, and private individuals; you have likely seen her work in various places around San Antonio on walls and as freestanding
sculptures.

Diana grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and as a child became entranced by working with clay. She earned an MFA in ceramics from Washington State University (1997), and a BFA in drawing from Texas Tech University (1994). In 2022, she was awarded the Lynn Ford Craftsman Award (San Antonio Conservation Society), The Artisan Award (Texas Society of
Architects, and the John Staub Award (Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, Texas Chapter). In 2023 she was presented with an Arts & Letters Award for Artistic Merit (Friends of the San Antonio Public Library) and named Best and Brightest (University Roundtable).

This year, Diana is serving as 2024 Texas State Artist in 3D (Texas Commission on the Arts). A faculty member of Northwest Vista College, she owns and operates Kersey
Ceramics LLC.

(Source: Adapted from the speaker’s website.)

The Alamo Group of the Sierra Club holds its general meetings the 3rd Tuesday of most
months. They're always free and open to the public.