The 2012 Mud Sweat and Cheer holiday show was a highly curated, design-forward ceramic pop-up gallery that launched on Black Friday in Portland, Oregon. Operating with a "art collective" ethos, the seasonal marketplace brought together functional and decorative works from over 50 local studio potters and visual artist, and the location to two micro pop-ups including the world famous Antler Gallery of Portland Oregon and the Oregon's premier ceramic venue Eutectic Gallery.
Our event offered buyers a unique selection and access of handmade tableware, traditional ceramic wares, sculpture and visual art. Covered by local publications like Portland Monthly, and the Radio Show Ghost Hiway, the event successfully connected regional clay artists directly with the community as an independent alternative to mass-produced gifts. The success of this specific 2012 showcase cemented its reputation and established a lasting blueprint for subsequent seasonal ceramic pop-ups across the Pacific Northwest art scene.

Behind the Scenes:

Filling out a 3500 square foot former toystore is a feat.  but not in the PDX.  Per capita there are more creative types that live in Portland Oregon than any where else in the whole entire world or at least that was the statistic going around in 2012.  But it does take an art community to put a show together.  My business partner and I found that people love being part of something collective.  It's one of those satisfying things you get to say you had your part in and get to claim credit for it.  We were so blessed having such a deep resource in our artist peers, if it was not for our colleagues enthusiasm our efforts would have been in vain. To top the cake We were featured in Portland Monthly with a shoutout, and the KBOO station DJ Ghosttrain and His show partner filled the airwaves with soulful sounds and a few chats about art.  To round things out we celebrated our patrons and artists every Saturday Night until Christmas with the musical talents of Tony Furtado and the seamless sounds of Jonathan Brinkley, and too many kegs of beer gladly provided by Bridgeport.