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FOCUS: MATERIAL EDUCATION Magpie song with audience; photo: Astrid Wehling MAGPIES AND MUD THE VALUE OF A GOOD RESIDENCY PROGRAM by Steve Kelly Australians will tell you that a particularly moving moment for an expat who has just returned from abroad is the welcome they receive from magpies, whose complicated carol is synonymous with home. Magpies are a familiar part of the natural soundscape on much of the continent, but for me, a new arrival, the unfamiliar ruckus that startled me awake on my first morning at Sturt felt slightly less than welcoming. However, before long, I too developed a daily relationship with the handful of maggies that call the tree-covered hill in Mittagong, New South Wales, their home. I now see the strange pre-dawn crooning as a welcome. They said hello to me and I to them. I learned that a pair of magpies will dedicate their whole lives to one small patch of land, so these were the same birds each day. This was just one of the many surprises I could not have seen coming a year ago. In 2022, I was home in Wilmington, North Carolina. My wife and I were out to dinner. We were dreaming, as we often do, about future travel. I said, “Someday before I leave this world, I want to go to Australia.” Ever the optimist, Maud said, “Put it out to the universe!” I rolled my eyes, but said, “Universe, I want to go to Australia!” When four months later I received an invitation to do a residency at Sturt, I knew I had to say yes. Thanks universe! 24 | THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS | JULY 2024
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1 2 1 Sturt campus; photo: Steve Kelly 2 Steve Kelly and Jann Kesby working in the Sturt studio; photo: Jacques McMaster My residency started on a rainy Monday in September. I was welcomed by Kristie Phelan, Director of Sturt, who made sure I started my first day with a stout cup of coffee and a proper Australian breakfast. While the cook made my fry-up, Kristie enthusiastically shared the history of Sturt. She described the powerful vision of founder Winifred West, who in 1941 took a burnt parcel of bushland, and built a craft centre. Sturt was born – dedicated to serving and educating Australians by providing a place where makers could come and share their skills and creativity. That vision has persisted for 83 years, educated thousands of people in contemporary craft, and hosted more than 600 professional makers in clay, wood, textiles and metal. Sturt is Australia’s oldest design centre and school for contemporary craft. It can claim responsibility for cultivating a big part of the unique craft culture of Australia. It has an absurdly bucolic campus and a rich past. I found myself walking in the footsteps of potters such as Svend Bayer and Yasuhisa Kohyama. It was hard to believe that I was to be a part of this lineage. After my orientation, I was paired with Jacques McMaster – a young potter and the studio technician, and Jann Kesby – the resident ceramic instructor and accomplished woodfirer. They became my guides, liaisons, and in the end, dear friends. They helped me acquire supplies and set up my studio. Together we fired kilns, swam in Jervis Bay, hiked to waterfalls, and even roadtripped to Broken Hill. But most importantly, they showed me where to find the best meat pies. Gumnut, if you’re asking. | 25

FOCUS: MATERIAL EDUCATION

Magpie song with audience; photo: Astrid Wehling

MAGPIES AND MUD THE VALUE OF A GOOD RESIDENCY PROGRAM

by Steve Kelly

Australians will tell you that a particularly moving moment for an expat who has just returned from abroad is the welcome they receive from magpies, whose complicated carol is synonymous with home. Magpies are a familiar part of the natural soundscape on much of the continent, but for me, a new arrival, the unfamiliar ruckus that startled me awake on my first morning at Sturt felt slightly less than welcoming. However, before long, I too developed a daily relationship with the handful of maggies that call the tree-covered hill in Mittagong, New South Wales, their home. I now see the strange pre-dawn crooning as a welcome. They said hello to me and I to them. I learned that a pair of magpies will dedicate their whole lives to one small patch of land, so these were the same birds each day. This was just one of the many surprises I could not have seen coming a year ago.

In 2022, I was home in Wilmington, North Carolina. My wife and I were out to dinner. We were dreaming, as we often do, about future travel. I said, “Someday before I leave this world, I want to go to Australia.” Ever the optimist, Maud said, “Put it out to the universe!” I rolled my eyes, but said, “Universe, I want to go to Australia!” When four months later I received an invitation to do a residency at Sturt, I knew I had to say yes. Thanks universe!

24 | THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS | JULY 2024

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