Capital City Arts Initiative

Artist in Residence: September 2016 – March 2017
Ceramics Program, Douglas High School
1670 NV-88, Minden, NV 89423

Tom Drakulich: Ceramic Sculpture

The Capital City Arts Initiative [CCAI] collaborated with Douglas High School’s Art Department to produce an Artist in Residence program with artist Tom Drakulich, Reno, Nevada, during the 2016 – 2017 school year.

Tom introduced his studio art practice to several art classes in late September. He followed with workshop for advanced ceramic students where he transformed mounds of clay into large abstract sculptures and discussed the students own sculpture assignments. In March, he returned to campus to see the students’ completed sculptures and discuss their work in a critique session.

Teacher Kelley Yost said, “My Ceramics II/III students also enjoyed the presentation, demonstration, and critique activities with Tom Drakulich. They were able to see Tom’s approach to throwing and altering a form, and some variations on how he finishes his pieces. We created our own sculptural forms, and shared the finished work with Tom at our class critique. Many of these students had the opportunity to display their work at the CCAI student show at the Brick building in Carson City. It was a great year of CCAI artists — we appreciated and learned from each one!”

Tom Drakulich, a Reno, Nevada, native, is a multimedia artist, primarily devoted to ceramic sculpture, but also involved in painting and photography. He received his A.A. in art history from TMCC, his B.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Nevada, Reno, [UNR] and his M.F.A. from UNR.

The Capital City Arts Initiative is an artist-centered organization committed to the encouragement and support of artists and the arts and culture of Carson City and the surrounding region. The Initiative is committed to community building for the area’s diverse adult and youth populations through art projects and exhibitions, live events, arts education programs, artist residencies, and online projects.

The Capital City Arts Initiative [CCAI] is funded in part by the Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts, City of Carson City, Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation, Nevada Humanities and National Endowment for the Humanities, U.S. Bank Foundation, and John and Grace Nauman Foundation.

right image: Drakulich demonstrating his ceramics techniques, October 2016
left image: teacher Kelley Yost discussing the critique with students; some student sculptures in the foreground, March 2017
bottom image: Douglas High student’s sculpture, glazed ceramic, March 2017