about the artist
Corey Shultz became involved with art at a very young age. There wasn't a time he recalls, where he wasn't creating. He studied art in primary school, during the entirety of his undergraduate studies, and during the entirety of his graduate school studies. During his undergraduate experiences studying drawing, he was accepted into the Bachelors of Fine Arts program at Northern Kentucky University. Here, the artist opted to study ceramics and sculpture, later graduating in 2012.
From 2010 until now, to some capacity, Corey has been teaching ceramics. He is the founding director of a community ceramics program in Lexington, Kentucky. From 2016 to 2018, he independently taught his students, and designed the curriculum for 10 different courses housing more than 400 students while also acting as studio manager. More recently, Corey was the Studio Arts Manager for the art department at Hood College, in Frederick MD. He was a MFA candidate here, finishing his Master's in October 2020. After spending 4 years studying ceramics at the graduate level, he left to pursue his career.
In December 2020, he accepted a position as Executive Director at the Nicodemus Center for Ceramic Studies, in Waynesboro PA. The Nicodemus Center is a non-profit ceramics studio dedicated to the preservation of local historic pottery, as well as, maintaining a public art studio for the community. He left his position in May 2022 to chase his final career pursuit: to establish and build his very own community art studio. He is currently realizing and building that vision. In the meantime, in May 2023 he opened up Southern PA Clay, a ceramics studio and gallery in downtown Gettysburg Pennsylvania. More information can be found here: www.southernpaclay.com
While Corey has, in the past, focused on functional wood fired pottery, he will be investigating figure sculpture, contemporary dinner and home ware as well as he moves forward. He can be reached here: corey@southernpaclay.com
artist statement
The purpose within my art-making is to make work that is aesthetically attractive, conceptually sensible, and technically well executed. Attractive work relates to something being meaningfully made. This, of course, implies the work has energy surrounding concept, technique, and intention. The concept of my work is to share with someone a piece of my mind.
This work exists for the intimate relationship between the maker and the user, whether mentally or physically. The work is made skillfully and fluently so it can be owned and appreciated, whether in mind or in hand. The piece becomes theirs; it becomes a part of the viewer's life, thereby stitching itself into the daily rituals of that person. Creating work that is not only seen, but physically and emotionally felt, is my position as a maker.
