Join artist-in-residence Z Kaplan for their Residency Capstone Potluck on Tuesday, June 4th from 5 – 7 pm. At this event, they will share back about how their month-long residency went, what they worked on during their time in Lanesboro, and how the residency in Lanesboro connects to their other work. Z will also reveal the ceramic tile tapestry that community members will have contributed to throughout the residency workshops. All ages are welcome. Bring a dish to share!
In the preceding series of ceramics workshops, Z will have led members of the Lanesboro community through conversations around their experiences living in Lanesboro, what keeps people living here, and what changes they imagine could keep Lanesboro thriving for everyone. Through these conversations, the community will have built our collective toolbox and centered the value of tikkun olam, repair of the world. Concurrent with these conversations, community members decorated ceramic tiles that will form part of the tapestry revealed at this event. The tapestry will live as a permanent fixture in Lanesboro!
About Z Kaplan
Z Kaplan (they/them) is a queer, trans, Jewish ceramic artist based in Minneapolis. As a community-oriented person who works for the betterment of their world through organizing and takes on the role of a teacher in various contexts, they are motivated by bringing joy, justice, and comfort to others. Recently, Z has been incorporating their value of doikayt, Yiddish meaning “hereness,” to invoke pieces that connect to their roots and to others in a way that explores desires for grounding and play in a reality that is deeply diasporic.
Their work is primarily created through atmospheric firings – soda and wood firings. In these firings, the end result of the pieces is unpredictable, because the pieces become vulnerable to their atmosphere. In highlighting the unpredictable nature within the habitual, Z is able to create work that reflects the unpredictability of building a home far away from their ancestors. Z’s recent creative and organizing work aims to re-imagine Jewish ritual objects in order to support their community in becoming agents in their own traditions. As Z explores new techniques and firing methods, they plan to continue to offer recipes toward home-building.
About the Residency
Z will lead members of the Lanesboro community through exercises in clay, while diving into what it means to be present and actively build home where we are while navigating our ongoing relationships to ourselves, others, and place. Z’s residency project expands an ongoing Jewish community art initiative that aims to honor ancestry, the complicated reality of living in diaspora, and building home right where you are. The goal of the project will be to reflect the community members’ lives through connecting with the earth, clay, diverse tactile experiences, and community conversations.
Learn more about Z and their residency by clicking here.
The Lanesboro Early Career Artist Residency Program is supported by the Jerome Foundation.
