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Mya Cluff

Ceramic Artist in Belgrade, Montana

Mya is a ceramic artist living in the small town of Belgrade, Montana. Originally an Oregonian, she uprooted her PNW roots in 2017 to move to Montana and immerse herself in the rich clay culture found in the Big Sky state. A mother of two children, Mya is intrigued with the psychological, political and interpersonal ramifications of the maternal experience, and uses her own experience as well as the experiences of her peers to inform her work. She also draws much inspiration from written accounts on Motherhood, feminist literature, and folklore. Mya has been included in many group exhibitions, and exhibited her first solo show in the summer of 2021 at the Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture in Bozeman, MT. She received her BFA from the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon, during which she had her first child, and her work has focused on the maternal experience ever since her undergrad thesis body of work which highlighted the transition to motherhood.

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EDUCATION

2014-2017

  • BFA in Craft, Concentration: Ceramics, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR spring 2017

 

EXHIBITIONS

[Solo denoted with *, Duo denoted with **, Invitational denoted with ∆, Featured Artist Denoted with^, Group are unmarked]

2023

  • Faces and Figures, [**] with Don Hoskisson, Chehalem Art Center, Newberg, OR

  • 8th Annual Ceramics Invitational, [∆] Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT

2022

  •  Thinking With Animals, [∆] Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH

  •  Where Do I End, and You Begin?, [*,∆] Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, WA

  •  Pandemic Motherhood, [**] with Brooke Bowen, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, UT

2021

  • MAM’s Big Night, 2021 Benefit Art Auction, Hosted by Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT https://missoulaartmuseum.org/annual-auction

  • Where Do I End and You Begin?, [*] Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture, Bozeman, MT

  • Maternochronics, Online exhibition, https://www.maternochronics.com/ 

  • Reflections on a Mother in Heaven, [∆] Anthony's Fine Art & Antiques, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 8th Annual Holiday Show, Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT

  • Acting Balance[d], [^] Spilt Milk Members Show, '21, online exhibition, www.spiltmilkgallery.com

2020

  • Figures and Portraits - Juried Group Show, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture, Bozeman, MT 

  • Isolation: Week Four, Stay Home Gallery, Instagram. Curated by Kaylan Buteyn and Pam Marlene Taylor 

  • Everything is Different Now, Stay Home Gallery and Residency, Paris TN 

  • Hear Us Roar!: An Exhibition Exploring the Experience of Being a Woman, Curated by Katie Bradford Osborn, Virtual Exhibition at RoaringArtistGallery.com 

  • Powerful Little Things, Curated by Katie Bradford Osborn, Virtual Market & Exhibition at RoaringArtistGallery.com

2019

  • Dynamic: A Celebration of the Female Experience, (Featured Artist) AVA Community Art Center, Gillette, WY

  • Unwedged (National Juried Exhibition by Tip Toland), Pottery Northwest, Seattle, WA

  • re:birth, Hosted by Spilt Milk, St. Margarets House, Edinburgh, Scotland UK

2017

  • Fulcrum, 321 NE Davis, Portland OR

  • BFA Orals Exhibition Week Four, Hoffman Gallery, Portland, OR

  • OCAC Ceramics Showcase, OCAC Ceramics Department, Portland OR

  • Ashes and Flux, Parish Gallery, Chehalem Art Center, Newberg OR (Concurrent NCECA exhibition)

  • Urban Artist Showcase, Parish Gallery, Chehalem Art Center, Newberg OR

2016        

  • Book and Print Department Exhibition, Brookwood Library, Hillsboro OR

  • OCAC Juried Student Show, Hoffman Gallery, Portland OR

  • Identity, City Club of Portland, Portland OR

2015       

  • OCAC Ceramics Showcase, Centrum Gallery, Portland, OR

  • Cross Section: Work from OCAC Department Chairs and Their Students, Hoffman Gallery, Portland, OR

  • I Almost Got Lost Getting Here, California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art, Davis, CA

2014     

  • OCAC Ceramics Showcase, Centrum Gallery, Portland, OR

 

RESIDENCIES

2023

  • Short Term Resident, Pentaculum, Arrowmont School of Art and Craft, Gatlinburg, TN

2019

  • Short Term Resident, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT

 

SCHOLARSHIPS/ GRANTS

2022

  • Ascent Artist Grant, through Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT

  • Mother Artist Grant, through Vision of the Arts, UT

2016           

  • Commitment to Craft Scholarship, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR

2014  

  • Presidential Scholarship, Oregon College of Art and Craft,Portland, OR

2013     

  • Leon Mulling Scholarship, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR

 

ORGANIZATIONS & MEMBERSHIPS

2019-2023 (currently involved)

  • Spilt Milk Member

2015-2023 (currently involved)

  • NCECA, National Council for the Education of Ceramic Arts

2015-2017    

  • Founding Board Member of Friends of East Creek, Non-Profit

2014-2017

  • OCAC Ceramics Guild Member

2000-2017      

  • Firing Crew Member of East Creek Anagama, Willamina, OR

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MENTORSHIP

2021

  • Crit Group Crew Mentor, Artist/Mother Podcast

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2023

  • An Artist and a Mother, edited by Tara Carpenter Estrada, Heidi Moller Somsen and Kaylan Buteyn, published by Demeter Press (Chpt 26, pg 193)

2020

  •  Mothers Days, (pg. 117-119) published by An Artist Residency in Motherhood & Lenka Clayton

2019

2016     

  • Featured on the Artist Parent Index

​

COLLECTIONS

  • Whitworth University, Public Collection, Spokane, WA

  • Kolva-Sullivan, Private Collection, Spokane, WA

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