ARTIST STATEMENT

Empowerment Mug Project 2022

As an artist I am inspired to combine my pottery and commitment to equal rights, social justice and democratic values in my Empowerment Mug Project. Each mug is thrown on a potter’s wheel and then words that have the power to envision a better world are pressed into the clay. Some of the word combinations are: Enlist, Persist, Resist, Insist; Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble; Solidarity, Sustainability; We Hold These Truths; Inclusion, Equity, Diversity; and Speak Truth to Power. And in 2021 I began a series of bilingual Empowerment Mugs and Spanish sayings, including: ¡Sí Se Puede! (Yes we can!) and ¡El pueblo unido jámas será vencido! (The people united will never be defeated!)

My most recent series are made from “wild clay” dug and processed by hand in south Jersey and fired in a kiln using local fallen and storm damaged wood for fuel. The mugs hold special meaning to me because of these deep roots in south Jersey.

A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of the mugs is donated to a non-profit organization which is working to advance these values, including Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union and Black Lives Matter.

I invite you to purchase an Empowerment Mug and enjoy your coffee, tea or beverage of choice while envisioning what a just and more perfect world would look like and knowing you have contributed support to an organization that is working to achieve these goals.

ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY

Alan Willoughby lives and makes pots in southern New Jersey where he shares a home, studio and wood kiln with his wife, Linda Shusterman. Alan enjoys creating work using a variety of clays, including a stoneware clay, porcelain and most recently, a “wild clay of southern New Jersey” which he prospects and prepares for use. His work is made on a potter’s wheel and includes hand built and press molded additions. The work is decorated with terra sigillatas, slips and glazes and is red in a Noborigama wood kiln to 2380 degrees Fahrenheit.

Alan has an MFA in Ceramics from Clemson University and has been awarded two Artists Fellowships by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. For 25 years he was the Executive Director of Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown & Collingswood, NJ and is currently an adjunct professor at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. His work and writings have been featured in Ceramics Monthly, Ceramics Art & Perception, Ceramics Technical and Studio Potter.