This recognition for studio-based research celebrates the importance of material culture and craft history. It also marks a turning point for creative research at the University of Manitoba.

“Receiving the SSHRC Insight Grant means a lot because it is still challenging for research-creation to receive funding at this level, particularly in Manitoba,” said Nickel. “It wasn’t long ago that creative activity wasn’t widely recognized as a viable category of academic research at UM. Now that we’re starting to see studio faculty successfully competing for SSHRC grants, it shows that old, restrictive attitudes toward what constitutes scholarly research are shifting—and the ceiling is being lifted.”

Nickel’s SSHRC-funded project is both deeply personal and broadly impactful. At its core is a rigorous study of Anabaptist/Haban ceramics, an area often overlooked in art history and contemporary ceramic pedagogy.

“Filling this knowledge gap and creating a body of work informed by the Anabaptist/Haban tradition is what excites me most,” she said. “This branch of ceramics, practiced between the mid-15th and late 19th centuries, connects to my own cultural heritage. That makes it personal and allows me to study my own history while developing new work and bringing greater awareness to the Anabaptist/Haban tradition.”

Among the many technical explorations involved in the project is an ongoing search for the elusive “heavenly blue,” a distinctive glaze colour associated with Haban ceramics that is especially difficult to replicate using contemporary methods.

A selection of hand-built ceramic test forms, developed through surface and glaze experiments exploring the visual language of Haban/Anabaptist ceramics, including the elusive “heavenly blue.”

The multi-faceted initiative will culminate in a major exhibition, a print catalogue, a lecture and workshop series, and the creation of a publicly accessible online resource featuring historical and technical data. Together, these outcomes aim to expand the knowledge and visibility of a tradition that continues to resonate in contemporary ceramic practices.

This summer, Nickel has been working closely with Undergraduate Research Award (URA) recipient and recent 2025 BFA Honours graduate Abtahi Hassan. Together, they’ve been conducting foundational research through both traditional and experimental methods.

“Working on Professor Grace Nickel’s project through the URA has been an incredible experience,” said Abtahi. “The focus on Haban/Anabaptist ceramics, a largely forgotten technique, challenged us to think outside the box to replicate the process and the distinctive colors and surface finishes, especially the marbling.

“Marbling is a technique I’ve explored in my ceramic practice for years, so being able to combine that experience with the historical knowledge we uncovered was encouraging. Collaborating with Grace, whose deep understanding of historical materials and methods is so inspiring, pushed my skills to develop exponentially.

“It was also amazing to experiment with a wide range of tools, like 3D printing, which opened up even more possibilities in my practice.”

Grace Nickel and Abtahi Hassan with an array of surface tests developed through the Undergraduate Research Award program.

For Nickel, the mentorship has been equally rewarding:

“Working with Abtahi Hassan through the URA program has been remarkable. We have both learned a lot, and Abtahi has been indispensable in helping me move through the highly ambitious agenda I set for my studio research and creation this summer.

“His insights, tireless energy, and positive presence have been a gift. Through the program, Abtahi has also had the opportunity to develop his own practice, delving into the potential of 3D digital technologies and experimenting with innovative methods in clay.”

Their work also highlights the impact and potential of the URA program, which supports undergraduate students in hands-on research alongside faculty members. As Abtahi notes, the program is still gaining awareness among fine arts students, something both he and Grace hope to expand through visibility and example.

Four in-progress cameo forms out of twenty-two total being created for an installation piece titled “In Search of Heavenly Blue” developed as part of the SSHRC-funded project.

With this SSHRC-funded project, Nickel is bringing together academic research, historical inquiry, and contemporary creative practice in ways that challenge disciplinary boundaries and create new models for collaborative research in the arts.

Congratulations to both Grace and Abtahi on the current and continued success of their hard work.

____

About SSHRC

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports research and research training in the humanities and social sciences. Established in 1977, SSHRC plays a vital role in Canada’s research landscape by supporting knowledge creation, fostering innovation, and investing in the next generation of scholars and creative thinkers.

Through a range of grants, fellowships, and scholarships—including the Insight Grant awarded to Professor Nickel—SSHRC enables Canadian researchers to explore pressing social, cultural, and historical questions. SSHRC is part of the Innovation, Science and Economic Development portfolio and also administers national research initiatives on behalf of Canada’s three federal research agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and SSHRC.

Learn more: https://sshrc-crsh.canada.ca/en/competition-results.aspx

The council recently held its inaugural Craft Awards event, which was celebrated at its Night of Excellence awards dinner at the East India Company restaurant on May 8, when 15 local craft were recognized with an award.

Tammy Sutherland, MCC’s executive director, said the Craft Awards event idea has evolved naturally, as the council has given out a number of different awards through the years, and organizers thought it made sense to create a community event featuring a dinner component.

“The feedback has been very positive,” said Sutherland, a West Broadway resident, noting the organization hopes to hold the event biennially moving forward. “Lots of people decided to come together and celebrate, which was great.”

Among the award winners is Grace Nickel, a professor at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art, who specializes in ceramics, and was the 2023 recipient of the prestigious Saidye Bronfman/Governor General’s Medal for Visual and Media Arts.

To read the entire article, please follow the link to The Free Press.

In partnership with the Free Press, UM offers free digital access to all students, faculty and staff.

This initiative helps support an informed and engaged campus community. Learn more.

Going Beyond Traditional Sources: Sustainable Clay

For this project, Nickel and her students avoided commercial mining and the use of factory-produced clays, opting instead for clay sourced from the nearby Southwood Circle construction site. This local earthenware came with several environmental benefits. By tapping into resources already on hand, the project sidestepped the environmental impact of long-distance transportation, keeping the carbon footprint low while significantly reducing costs. This red earthenware clay was naturally suited for low-temperature firing, making it a perfect match for the Low-Fire Ceramics class while conserving energy.

Energy-Efficient Firing Techniques

The project’s commitment to sustainability went further through once-firing, a technique that avoided the typical two-step firing process, resulting in even less energy usage. Each step was thoughtfully designed to reduce environmental impact, from the selection of materials to the final firing process, demonstrating that local and accessible resources could meet students’ artistic needs while supporting broader sustainability goals.

Professor Grace Nickel onsite at the Southwood Circle construction site harvesting local clay in August 2024 for her Fall semester Low-Fire Ceramics course.

A Malleable and Collaborative Process

The clay itself was noted for its remarkable plasticity and malleability—qualities that made it an ideal material for student projects. Through collaboration with Southwood Circle construction, Nickel was granted access to abundant, high-quality clay, underscoring the potential for community partnerships in sustainable art practices. She documented the full journey from sourcing to firing, illustrating the process and challenges of working with local clay as students transformed it into unique pieces that reflected both their artistry and a commitment to sustainability.

Honoring Process and Place

As the Local Clay project evolved, students in the Low-Fire Ceramics class learned not only the techniques of working with natural materials but also the responsibilities that came with them. Their work became a testament to what was possible when art met environmental awareness, positioning the Local Clay project as a powerful example of sustainable practice within the art community at UM.

Student reflections capture the essence of this journey

Wendy Peck shared, “When you use clay gathered and processed where you are working, you connect with your location in a magical, tactile way. In addition to the assigned projects, I am creating a mug with the U of M clay to forever mark the years I spent pursuing my dream. It doesn’t get more local than this.”

Anaies Mehrabian, another student, commented on the profound connection with nature that working with local clay fosters: “As a ceramic student, I am captivated by the profound connection between working with local clay and the essence of Mother Nature. Utilizing local clay has deepened my understanding, as I’ve engaged not only with the material itself but also with its creation process. The unpredictable nature of my pieces made with local clay empowers me to embrace the journey, allowing the clay to reveal its unique beauty and enhance my artistic vision in its own remarkable way.”

Work by MFA student Netsanet Shawl, created during the project, showcasing natural textures and colours unique to the local material.

MFA student Netsanet Shawl expressed, “Gathering and working with local clay has been incredibly inspiring. It has opened my eyes to the richness of our environment. It’s interesting to see how the colors and textures of the clay influence our creative processes. This project makes us appreciate the materials we often take for granted. The natural colors and textures of the clay give each piece a distinct character, reminding me of the connection between the Earth and the art.”

Noah Yaschyshyn described the process of transforming raw material into art: “We started with a bucket of material from the construction site on University Crescent. We broke it down, added water, wedged it, and made tests with the raw clay. It’s more intimate of a process than working with commercial clay; it made me think about my relationship to the material, where it came from, and why that’s important to me and my practice. I find ceramics to be community-oriented; we share the studio space, knowledge, ideas. We’re highly conscious of how our actions affect others, and that goes down to how they affect the environment as well. We’re working hard and thinking creatively and cooperatively. I think we’re setting a good example.”

The renowned ceramics artist was raised on a farm about three and a half miles outside of town and grew up in the community, going to elementary school there before attending high school at Garden Valley Collegiate (GVC) in Winkler.

To read the full article, please visit Pembina Valley Online

Each student successfully participated in a competition, and both were selected as representatives of the ceramics program at School of Art. 

The International Ceramic Art Fair (ICAF) is a 10-day celebration of some of the most compelling recent ceramic art, featuring works by emerging and established artists from a wide range of backgrounds and online and in-person programming by artists and curators. The Fair is hosted by The Gardiner, one of the world’s leading specialty museums and is Canada’s only museum dedicated to the ceramic medium.

We invite you to visit the 2023 ICAF Next Generation website and join us in celebrating the next generation of talent across Canada!

Webpage link: https://icaf2023.squarespace.com/icaf-next-generation

Congratulations to Caleigh and Jasmine!

Meet the artists:

Caleigh Stillwater is an emerging artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is currently completing her BFA at the University of Manitoba. She works in a variety of mediums with a focus in ceramic sculpture and painting. Her work often explores the ethics of the meat industry and its connection to environmental destruction. Her sculptures aim to raise awareness about important issues, while making viewers confront the uncomfortable truths of an industry that many willfully ignore.

Stillwater’s recent body of work, Butcher’s Trio I and II features an installation of lifelike hand-built ceramic sculptures. Three sculptures of meat; a steak, a sausage link and a ham hang on meat hooks above a butcher’s table. Sculptures of a chicken, a piglet and a lamb sit on the table, plastic wrapped on foam trays like grocery store meat. The ceramic installation aims to critique the commodification of animals within the meat industry, and the disconnect that consumers have between the food they eat and where it comes from.

Jasmine Prior is an interdisciplinary artist currently residing in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Coming from outside a small town she is influenced heavily by nature, from the largest tree to the smallest insect. Prior is completing an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and hopes to continue her studies in anthropology and psychology as well. She has been creating for as long as she can remember. When she wasn’t creating, she was studying outside by collecting bones, dead insects and feathers on walks through the bush with her dog. Prior hopes to bring a sense of pause and reflection to notice the simple treasures nature gives us daily and to remember the connections we all have to this planet and the tiniest creatures on it.

The show includes work from each of the MFA candidates – Hamideh Behgar, Timothy Brown, Sonny Cai, Ashkan Nejadebrahimi, and Niki Saghar – who have designed their own installations, after receiving professional training in curatorial practices and exhibition design last fall in a week-long workshop with curators Rodney Latourelle and Louise Witthoefft from Berlin, specialists in exhibition installation, public art, colour and light concepts.

“It will be an eclectic mix of works ranging from video and performance, through sculpture to drawing,” says, Oliver Botar, associate director, graduate studies and research at the School of Art.

Three out of five of the students are originally from Iran, and a theme of displacement runs through the works, he says.

Botar encourages people to come out. He points to the calibre of artists who have graduated from the MFA program over the last 12 years of its history.

“The School of Art has produced a long roster of artists that have gone on to local, national and indeed international fame, including a goodly list of international “art stars,” some of whom continue to live here, and others who’ve gone on to major careers in larger Canadian art centres such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, but also to New York, Chicago and Berlin,” says Botar. “In other words, through our graduates and our network, we are an art school that is present way beyond our borders.”

About the show

Hamideh Behgar – Embracing Imperfection

As a female artist who grew up in an environment full of restrictive societal norms, Hamideh Behgar experienced many boundaries, limitations, and high expectations. Through her artistic journey, she has explored the societal pressure to achieve perfection, despite the inherent imperfections that exist in the natural world beyond our control. Her current artistic practice is inspired by childhood imagination and the importance of free play and play sculptures.

Timothy Brown – Waves

Timothy Brown
Processor 1 (still), 2022
video
Image courtesy of the artist

Waves is a temporal conversation taking place across a variety of media, in which Timothy Brown addresses the grief and trauma from the loss of his mother while also re-examining his identity in relation to the birth of his son. The exhibition utilizes audio, video, installation, drawing, and text while also inviting the viewer into the exhibition space as a participant. With Waves, history, lineage, identity, grief, trauma, control, and emotion collide, re-examining the relationship between viewer, artist, and artwork.

Sonny Cai – Three Begat All Things

Sonny Cai
Image courtesy of the artist

The exhibition title, Three Begat All Things, comes from the description of Yinyang in Tao Te Ching: the existence of the laws of Yinyang, the human understanding of these laws, and the physical manifestation of these laws. These three concepts come together to form 道Tao and produce all things. The direct translation of Yinyang from Chinese to English is “Sun” and “Shadow”, which is perfectly embodied within Sonny Cai’s choice of medium: The series Three Begat All Things uses Cyanotype techniques creating a beautiful blue visual effect in accordance with the sun and its shadows.

Ashkan Nejadebrahimi – Autopsy of the Remains

Ashkan Nejadebrahimi
Immersion I, 2023
Mixed media (wire, wood, clear acrylic sheets, ink, spray paint), 70 x 70 x 35 cm
Image courtesy of the artist

Ashkan Nejadebrahimi makes abstract drawings on 2D surfaces and sometimes the lines he draws move into three-dimensional space, taking on sculptural qualities. Drawing for him is an act of probing what is going on inside and around him. He employs Surrealist “Automatist” techniques, which allow him to suppress conscious control over the creative process. Ashkan’s work researches the interactions between Self and Other in psychological and social senses, and in his studio, subjects such as monsters, the unconscious, and the quality of non-finito, that is “unfinishedness,” meet on the ground of drawing.

Niki Saghari – Fading Roots, Blooming Branches

Niki Saghari
Image courtesy of the artist

Niki Saghari is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist currently based in Canada. Her work encompasses photography, performance, video, sound, and installations. She aims to draw attention to the seemingly mundane aspects of daily life and transform them into works that challenge our preconceptions. Through her art, she explores the complexities of human relationships and identity, as well as the passage of time and the impermanence of all things. By revealing the unconscious and exposing our shared experiences, Saghari aims to promote empathy and understanding between people from different cultures and backgrounds. Saghari will be presenting a performance as part of her thesis show at 6PM.

MFA Thesis Exhibition

May 23-June 23
School of Art Gallery

Opening reception: May 26; 5 – 8 p.m.

The art school that punches above its weight

Botar notes that the School of Art and the MFA program have a lot to offer the city and the province. “The School of Art is the only art school with a graduate program between Regina/Saskatoon and Toronto/London, and there is no such program in North Dakota or Northern Minnesota.” This points to high demand for the graduate program.

“With the establishment of our MFA Program some 12 years ago, we also began to attract a good number of international students from countries such as Iran, China, Korea and Latin America (among others), that has helped internationalize our art scene.”

Enrolment numbers have been kept small despite the demand says Botar, running to an intake of about five per year for the competitive program which typically see 85 applicants per year. Students accepted to the program get a large studio, receive personalized instruction in small groups from an outstanding roster of faculty, and their degree culminates in a professional MFA thesis show that includes a hard-cover publication of the exhibition.

And the program is growing. “We have just doubled our potential intake to 10 due to the demand, which will ensure a larger, more dynamic cohort of students, something that is beneficial for artists at the start of their careers,” says Botar. “The newly established MA Program in Art and Architectural History (beginning Fall 2023) will further increase the annual cohort by two for the time being.”

That personalized instruction, along with outstanding production facilities and full technical support in the award-winning ARTlab are large draws for the program, along with numerous professional development opportunities including workshops, studio visits from top curators, artists and journal editors, says Botar.

“We also currently have an artist-in-residence, Prof. Emeritus Erwin Huebner (Biology), who offers one-on-one instruction in scientific imaging techniques and art making – to my knowledge the only such instruction and facility in an art school in the country,” says Botar.

“Without this art school, that was founded together with the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1912, Winnipeg would not be the cultural centre that it is. Our graduates are the foundation of a complex and rich art scene in Winnipeg, including not only the WAG-Quamajuq, but also many artist-run centres in the fine arts, including video/moving image, installation, printmaking, craft, ceramics, and more.”

“Many Winnipeggers will be familiar with Nickel in her role as Professor at UM’s School of Art. Others will know her work from recent solo exhibitions at Gallery 1C03 and Actual Gallery in Winnipeg.” writes nominator Tammy Sutherland, Director of the Manitoba Craft Council. “She has mentored many emerging artists over the years, both formally, through Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA), and informally. She has served on the board of the Manitoba Craft Council and worked with many of this city’s most respected art organizations, including MAWA, Art City, and Winnipeg Art Gallery Studio. 

Nickel’s reputation for painstaking research, persistence in exploring new territory, and exquisite craftsmanship have earned her the respect and recognition of colleagues, critics, and curators at an international, national, and local level. We’re thrilled that she is being recognized with this prestigious award.”

Congratulations, Grace!

Pyre with Flower Brick and Lifeline (detail), 2019, porcelain, 28 x 83 x 20 cm. Collection of the artist. Photo credit: Michael Zajac

ABOUT GRACE NICKEL
(excerpted from the nomination statement)

For more than forty years, Grace Nickel has maintained a vibrant studio practice while exhibiting, lecturing, teaching, writing, curating, participating in residencies, and taking on leadership roles in arts and academic settings. In her art practice focused on sculptural ceramics and installation, Nickel investigates how material, process, and scale impart meaning to form and how they influence the aesthetic qualities of her studio work by exploring both traditional and new technologies. Her work has been exhibited widely in Canada, the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand and has garnered accolades, including the Bronze Award at the prestigious Second International Ceramics Competition in Mino, Japan and a Special Judges’ Award at the Sixth Taiwan Golden Ceramics Awards. Nickel is a Professor at the School of Art, University of Manitoba (U of M).

Nickel grew up as a farm girl in Southern Manitoba, always aware of the scarcity of trees on the bald prairie and the beauty of clay excavated from great depths by her father with his frontend loader. She launched her career in 1980 with a BFA from the U of M, a school deeply tied to wheel-thrown practice and wood firing. From the outset, Nickel was drawn to the sculptural properties of clay. Pushing the limits of these properties, she moved towards a conceptual and architectural approach to ceramics, exploring hand-building and slip-casting techniques, working at an unusually large scale, and experimenting with fabric formwork and complex sculptural moulds.

With a wealth of experience behind her, she pursued graduate studies, earning an MFA in ceramics from NSCAD University. Nickel joined her alma mater, the School of Art at the U of M, as an Assistant Professor in 2010, became the first woman to receive a tenured position in Ceramics at that institution and was promoted to Full Professor in March 2022.

Find out more about this year’s GG Award winners and view a short film about Grace Nickel’s career here: https://en.ggarts.ca/

Winnipeg will be able to see Nickel’s ceramic work in person this spring-summer. WAG-Qaumajuq, in collaboration with the Manitoba Craft Council, will be presenting an exhibition of her artwork, opening in May 2023.

More to come…

Eruptions

Exhibition EXTENDED until April 8, 2022

Gallery 1C03 writes:

Eruptions is an exhibition of new and recent work by established Winnipeg artist Grace Nickel in which she collects, studies, transforms and memorializes felled trees and forest fragments in porcelain. Nickel applies an archaeobotanical lens to her investigations, referencing the past and present with regard to the life cycle of living organisms and to varied forms and functions of ceramics production. Nickel’s work also considers how the micro struggle for survival reflects the macro crises in which we find ourselves today, with climate change and resulting environmental catastrophes top of mind.

Nickel’s virtuosic incorporation of diverse ceramic techniques is displayed in Eruptions alongside forward-facing experiments which demonstrate the transformative potential of the medium. Through experimentation in 3D-printing with her collaborator, Michael Zajac, delicate porcelain plumes that burst forth from Eruptions are re-envisioned as other-worldly inkjet prints. Central to the exhibition are limb-like Pyres resembling tree trunks which support miniature forms that reference funerary rituals and provision for the afterlife. Root-like lifelines emerge and stretch skyward suggesting networks of support and the possibility of passage to a new life. An apt creative response to the present time, Eruptions evokes messages of fragility and grief but also hope and resilience.

An illustrated publication for Eruptions, with a contextual response written by ceramics artist and writer Heidi McKenzie, is forthcoming. 

Grace Nickel is an artist and educator living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her studio practice focuses on sculptural ceramics and installation. She has won awards in international competitions including the Mino International Ceramics Competition in Japan and the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale and has had numerous solo exhibitions in Canada including at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba, the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery in Saskatchewan, and the Art Gallery of Burlington in Ontario. Her work has been widely collected and is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art in Gifu, Japan, the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan, and the Fule International Ceramic Art Museums project in Fuping, China. Her work has been selected for the Cheongju International Craft Biennale in Korea, and for several NCECA Annual Exhibitions (Philadelphia, Portland). Grace Nickel has completed numerous residencies including at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta. She held the position of Adjunct Research Fellow at the Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia and has travelled abroad extensively to present lectures, including recent invitations from the Clayarch Gimhae Museum and AK Ceramics Centre in South Korea, and the Australian Ceramics Triennale in Hobart, Tasmania. Nickel received her BFA from the University of Manitoba and MFA from NSCAD University. She is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts and currently teaches as Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba School of Art.

VISIT THE EXHIBITION

Eruptions will be open for viewing at Gallery 1C03 on weekdays between 12:00 and 4:00 pm from February 17 until March 25, 2022 (closed Louis Riel Day). All visitors must pre-register for an appointment at least 24 hours in advance of their intended visit time here.

AFFILIATED ONLINE EVENT

Artist talk by Grace Nickel

Presented with Manitoba Craft Council
February 3, 2022, at 7:00 pm CT

Watch Event recording

This residency is proudly funded by @sofasa through the SIEF program!

You can explore more of Brandson’s work on the 2021 BFA Honours exhibition website: soaexhibitions.ca/common/leandra.html

Leandra Brandson, School of Art BFA Honours Exhibition, 2021