BUCKHAM GALLERY
  • Home
  • Exhibitions
    • June Solo Exhibitions >
      • Oasis of Symmetry | Aisha Changezi
      • Late Stage Block Party | Adrian Hatfield
      • Everted Sanctuaries: Exquisite Contortions | Ryan Lewis
    • In Conversation
    • Exhibition Opportunities >
      • 2024-2025 Season Call For Entry
      • PRESENTATION GUIDELINES
    • 2022-2023 Exhibition Schedule
    • Selected Past Exhibitions >
      • April Exhibitions >
        • Sam Morello Selected Works
        • Small Works - National Juried Exhibition
        • Teeth & Hair - National Juried Exhibition
      • Late Winter Solo Exhibitions >
        • Tokens and Traces | Jeanne Ciravolo
        • Between Here and There | Kimberly LaVonne
        • A Reckoning in Pink | Danielle Mužina
      • January Solo Exhibitions >
        • Crawl Space | Guen Montgomery
        • Portraits of Home | Whitney Lea Sage
        • Interior Visions: Domestic Sphere | Stephanie Serpick
      • Early Winter Exhibitions >
        • Empty Road, Great Tornado - Emmett Merrill
        • Nice Things for Nice People - Kate Snow
        • Recent Work - Michael Melet
      • November Exhibition >
        • Buckham Artist Collaborators
        • On Screen: A Showcase
      • 101 Artists
      • Ojichaagwan Vessels- Guy Adamec
      • Caution: May Contain Nudity >
        • Donovan Entrekin
        • Friends
      • Summer Exhibitions >
        • Heidi Brueckner
        • Craig Hinshaw
        • Michael Weigman
      • Early Summer Exhibitions >
        • Barriers & Preservers | Margaret Davis
        • Endless Endeavors | Benjamin Muñoz
      • BIPOC is The Theme! >
        • BIPOC Artists for Feature Exhibition
        • Viewing Room
      • Late Winter Exhibitions >
        • Dialectics and the Decommodified: The Spectres of Capital- Morgan Craig
        • Textures of the Southwest- Robert Huebel
        • All the Pretty Little Horses- Chris Waters
      • Small Talk >
        • Viewing Room
      • December Exhibitions >
        • Horizons | Emily Legleitner
        • Indexing Schizophrenia | Diane Zeeuw
        • Seeking Solace | Rebecca Zeiss
      • Black & White
      • Entropy >
        • Viewing Room
      • 2021 Exhibitions
      • 2020 Exhibitions
      • 2019 Exhibitions
    • Art Money
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • B.Y.O.C.
    • Flint ARTWALK
    • Cider & Slides
    • Past Events >
      • Past Artist Talks >
        • 2022 Smallidge Lecture
        • Jan. 10, 2020: Artist Talks with Ardea Thurston-Shaine and Dominique Chastenet de Gary
        • Tommy Mintz, Nov. 2019
        • 2019 Smallidge Lecture
        • June 2019: Panel Discussion with John Dempsey, Guy Adamec, and Amy Gibas
        • May 4, 2019- Artist Talk with Stephen Halko and Nick Reszetar
        • April 13, 2019 ​Artist Talk and Deviant Life Drawing Session with Jeanine Leclaire
      • Open Mic
  • PROJECTS
    • BFAP: On Screen >
      • On Screen Artists
      • FAQ
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    • BFAP: Writer in Residence >
      • Bob Campbell
      • Natasha Thomas
      • Shea Phire Cobb
    • Collaborators at Karmanos
    • Emerging Artist with UM-F >
      • My Proulx
  • About Buckham
    • Mission Statement
    • Board and Staff
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    • Buckham Community Membership
    • Founders Feature >
      • FOUNDERS FEATURE: THOMAS NUZUM
      • Founders Feature: Sam Morello
      • Founders Feature: Ken Kinyon
      • Founders Feature: John Dempsey
      • FOUNDERS FEATURE: GUY ADAMEC
    • History
    • 2022 Annual Report >
      • 2021 Annual Report
      • 2020 Annual Report
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      • 2022-23 BAC Renewal
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FOUNDERS FEATURE: GUY ADAMEC

The Founders Feature highlights the Buckham Fine Arts Project and the artists involved from our early days.

Founders Feature: April 30 - May 6

Guy Adamec makes objects in order to interpret contemporary attitudes within the context of traditional forms and aesthetics. Predominantly known for his ceramics, Adamec’s Altar Vessels, Udon Drums, and Spirit Jars become a catalyst between the tangible and the ethereal.

Adamec is the Firemaster for the Flint Institute of Arts, teaching pottery, sculpture, and glaze chemistry. He has also taught for Flint Community Schools, Mott Adult High School, Mott Community College, and was Artist in Residence for Kearsley Community Schools. In 2004, he started installations of public art for the Ruth Mott Foundation, in the Flint area.

Flint and Buckham Gallery
Guy Adamec, April 2020

I first came to Flint, Michigan in 1975. I had been living in Tucson, Arizona and my first impression of Flint was how small it was. Main street downtown was only a short drive, and then it returned to residential. I grew up in Chicago and was used to a city that took hours to drive through.

I started working for Flint Community Schools, their Community Fine Arts program, and quickly found out how popular art, and especially “making things by hand,” were in Flint. This city looked small, but the people were unique. They were used to working with their hands, making things for factories producing autos and machinery; they were being creative, but always for someone else. These classes provided an outlet for them to explore their own creativity, and they were eager.

This was the environment that Buckham Gallery was started in. The founders were energetic, working artists, and the audience in the city were eager to see new contemporary art. The “Art Community” in Flint was thriving, and the public embraced it. There was more energy in this “town” than many other places I had lived.

My relationship with Buckham, although not an actual founding member, started soon after its inception, and has continued ever since. It has been a great way for working artists in Flint to stay connected, and I typically have had a show here every two years. Being an instructor in the area, and being able to have my students, see pieces made, fired, and shown in a gallery space, has been invaluable to my teaching process.

Being a Maker

I have been an artist /potter for fifty years. I have taught art in Public Schools, Museum Schools, Colleges, even a G.E.D. program in the County Jail. I have been associated with galleries, (large and small), Museums, and numerous private studios. My views on making “ART” over the years have slowly evolved into something that is finally becoming clear.

As an emerging “artist”, one is frequently told that fame and fortune is the goal; showing in reputable galleries, shows in big cities, knowing all the right people and dealers. Now, although I hold nothing against successful galleries and dealers, and still use them, I find that the “fame and fortune” part to be the least important factor. Rather, time alone in the studio when one's intuition is in control; THAT is the moment that we live for.

I look at examples of ceramic art venerated in museums today and much of the work is made by the anonymous potter. These potters were simply doing what they knew and enjoyed; making pieces for others to use and enjoy.

Today, with mass media and the ease of global communication, isolated cultures of the past are becoming homogenized into a global culture, blending everything together. I sometimes feel the need to isolate myself to free me to explore a variety of personal tangents, regardless of medium, with no distractions from outside influences. This, for me, is how “my art'' is made.

One should strive to surround themselves with things that are significant.
Buckham Gallery is funded by the following organizations:
Generous support is provided by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. 

Our activities are sponsored in part by an award from the MICHIGAN ARTS AND CULTURE COUNCIL  and the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS. 
​

This program is sponsored by the Greater Flint Arts Council Share Art Genesee Grant Program made possible by the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Millage funds. Your tax dollars are at work!
Picture
  • Home
  • Exhibitions
    • June Solo Exhibitions >
      • Oasis of Symmetry | Aisha Changezi
      • Late Stage Block Party | Adrian Hatfield
      • Everted Sanctuaries: Exquisite Contortions | Ryan Lewis
    • In Conversation
    • Exhibition Opportunities >
      • 2024-2025 Season Call For Entry
      • PRESENTATION GUIDELINES
    • 2022-2023 Exhibition Schedule
    • Selected Past Exhibitions >
      • April Exhibitions >
        • Sam Morello Selected Works
        • Small Works - National Juried Exhibition
        • Teeth & Hair - National Juried Exhibition
      • Late Winter Solo Exhibitions >
        • Tokens and Traces | Jeanne Ciravolo
        • Between Here and There | Kimberly LaVonne
        • A Reckoning in Pink | Danielle Mužina
      • January Solo Exhibitions >
        • Crawl Space | Guen Montgomery
        • Portraits of Home | Whitney Lea Sage
        • Interior Visions: Domestic Sphere | Stephanie Serpick
      • Early Winter Exhibitions >
        • Empty Road, Great Tornado - Emmett Merrill
        • Nice Things for Nice People - Kate Snow
        • Recent Work - Michael Melet
      • November Exhibition >
        • Buckham Artist Collaborators
        • On Screen: A Showcase
      • 101 Artists
      • Ojichaagwan Vessels- Guy Adamec
      • Caution: May Contain Nudity >
        • Donovan Entrekin
        • Friends
      • Summer Exhibitions >
        • Heidi Brueckner
        • Craig Hinshaw
        • Michael Weigman
      • Early Summer Exhibitions >
        • Barriers & Preservers | Margaret Davis
        • Endless Endeavors | Benjamin Muñoz
      • BIPOC is The Theme! >
        • BIPOC Artists for Feature Exhibition
        • Viewing Room
      • Late Winter Exhibitions >
        • Dialectics and the Decommodified: The Spectres of Capital- Morgan Craig
        • Textures of the Southwest- Robert Huebel
        • All the Pretty Little Horses- Chris Waters
      • Small Talk >
        • Viewing Room
      • December Exhibitions >
        • Horizons | Emily Legleitner
        • Indexing Schizophrenia | Diane Zeeuw
        • Seeking Solace | Rebecca Zeiss
      • Black & White
      • Entropy >
        • Viewing Room
      • 2021 Exhibitions
      • 2020 Exhibitions
      • 2019 Exhibitions
    • Art Money
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • B.Y.O.C.
    • Flint ARTWALK
    • Cider & Slides
    • Past Events >
      • Past Artist Talks >
        • 2022 Smallidge Lecture
        • Jan. 10, 2020: Artist Talks with Ardea Thurston-Shaine and Dominique Chastenet de Gary
        • Tommy Mintz, Nov. 2019
        • 2019 Smallidge Lecture
        • June 2019: Panel Discussion with John Dempsey, Guy Adamec, and Amy Gibas
        • May 4, 2019- Artist Talk with Stephen Halko and Nick Reszetar
        • April 13, 2019 ​Artist Talk and Deviant Life Drawing Session with Jeanine Leclaire
      • Open Mic
  • PROJECTS
    • BFAP: On Screen >
      • On Screen Artists
      • FAQ
    • BFAP: Interns
    • BFAP: Writer in Residence >
      • Bob Campbell
      • Natasha Thomas
      • Shea Phire Cobb
    • Collaborators at Karmanos
    • Emerging Artist with UM-F >
      • My Proulx
  • About Buckham
    • Mission Statement
    • Board and Staff
    • Buckham Arts Collective
    • Buckham Community Membership
    • Founders Feature >
      • FOUNDERS FEATURE: THOMAS NUZUM
      • Founders Feature: Sam Morello
      • Founders Feature: Ken Kinyon
      • Founders Feature: John Dempsey
      • FOUNDERS FEATURE: GUY ADAMEC
    • History
    • 2022 Annual Report >
      • 2021 Annual Report
      • 2020 Annual Report
    • News/Press >
      • Archives
    • BAC 2022-2023 >
      • 2022-23 BAC Renewal
      • Bylaws
      • Policies
  • SUPPORT
    • 2022-2023 Annual Fund
    • Community Membership
    • Online Shop
    • Buckham Donors
  • Visit
    • CONNECT