Mary Kuilema - Architectural Ceramics

Rural Lowell township, Michigan, is the setting for Mary Kuilema's home and studio. She has been
working in clay for the last 30 years, initially as a potter and more recently in tile production and design.
Her tile is influenced by the beauty of the Michigan woodlands and is indebted to the tile of the arts
and crafts movement as well as historic dutch and german tile which elevated everyday events and
common sights to the level of art.

Just as each new wave of art tile design is a reflection of its own culture and society while building on the
vast repertoire of historic tile, so the current resurgence of handmade tile is due, in part, to a society which
values the beauty and fragile nature of our environment while encouraging the production of hand-made
artwork. The task of the artist is to help us see and celebrate what is all around us. 

Clay and tile, especially, is a wonderful medium for tactile experience. The bas relief images with matte
glazes interact with light to cast subtle shadows, enhancing the textures and colors of the tile. The matte
glaze flows and pools slightly during the hottest part of the firing process, creating its own textures and
crystals which reflect light. Each firing contains tests of new glazes, a continual search for color variation
through glaze application and firing temperature. And the finished tile offers limitless opportunity for creativity
in installation; pattern and design come together in architectural elements and fireplace surrounds, kitchens
and bathrooms. Extruded ceramic moldings, custom field tile and metallic glaze accents work together to
make a beautiful architectural statement.

Mary Kuilema Resume'
Architectural Installations:
 Tile Murals: 
         Fair Housing Center, (NGO) Grand Rapids, MI, donor recognition wall 2007- ongoing
         Cherry street Health Services, (NGO) donor recognition wall, 2005 - 2007
         South End Community Outreach ministries, donor recognition wall, 2005 -2007
         Outdoor tile mosaic wall, as artist in residence with Unity High School,
         Lowell Riverwalk, Lowell MI, 2005
        Girl Scouts/Michigan Trails Donor recognition wall, Camp Anna Behrens, Greenville MI 2005
         Donor recognition frieze,Wittenbach Agri-science Center, Lowell Area Schools. MI. 2004
        Classroom Designation, Knapp Forest Elementary, Forest Hills Schools, Gr Rapids MI, 2003
        Kuilema Pottery, home and studio: installations of bathrooms, fireplace, kitchen, floors as well
        as insets in cement porch and sidewalk, stair risers, 1995-ongoing.
        Art-Deco style donor recognition wall, Home Repair Services, Grand Rapids, MI ,2000 
        Outdoor Head Start mural, Grace Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, MI 1998
        Outdoor Frog Frieze, Cedar Springs, MI, 1997
Fireplaces:
        Cooper fireplace, Kalamazoo, MI; 
        Pastoor/Jansens, 2  fireplaces, Grand Rapids MI;
        Walker fireplace, Grand Rapids MI;
        Hock fireplace, Ann Arbor MI;
        Kresock fireplace, Rochester, NY;
        Caston fireplace, Grand Rapids, MI;
        Kovack Fireplace, Schoolcraft, MI;
        Kuilema fireplace, Lowell, MI;
        Bell Fireplace, New Buffalo, MI.
        Rossler Fireplace, Rochester Hills, MI.
Publications:  
       “Architectural Ceramics” by Peter King, fireplace illustration, Lark Books, 1999.
       Lark Books, “500 Tiles,”  edited by Angelica Pozo, 2008
Workshops, Seminars:
       Tile Heritage Seminars and exhibition; Erie, Ohio, 1999.
       Tile Heritage Conference and Workshop; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1998;
       Functional Ceramics Workshop; Wooster, Ohio,  1997, 1996
       Public Art Installations Workshop; Cleveland Institute of Arts, Cleveland Ohio,  1996;
       Peter King,  Architectural Ceramics Workshop; Pensacola, Florida, 1995;
       National Conference for education in Ceramic Arts, 1999, 2004
Annual Art Shows:
       Pewabic Tile Invitationals:  Winter & Summer Shows in Bloomfield Hills, Grosse Pointe, MI
       Tile Heritage Foundation Invitationals: Doylestown PA,  & Erie, Pennsylvania
       West Michigan Potters Guild Spring and Fall Shows, Grand Rapids, Michigan
       Handmade Tile Association: invitational exhibition, Minneapolis, MN
       South Haven Art Show, South Haven, Michigan 
      GrandValley Artists: Clothesline Art Fair,  Art On the Grand, Grand Rapids, Michigan
      Kalamazoo Institute of Arts/ Bronson Park Art Show, Kalamazoo, Michigan 
      Royal Oak Clay and Glass Invitational, Royal Oak, Michigan
      Suttons Bay Art Show, Suttons Bay, Michigan
      Traverse City Outdoor Art Show, Traverse City,  Michigan
      Fallasburg Fall Festival, Lowell, Michigan
Professional Associations:
      West Michigan Potters Guild, ’83-’06; board,  secretary, president, fall show chairperson
      Tile Heritage Foundation, ‘96-’07
      Lowell Area Arts Council, ‘99-’07 
      Artist in Residence at Kelloggsville Public Schools, January, 2000, 2002
      Instructor: Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, fall, 2003, 2004
      Artist in Residence, Unity Alternative high school, Lowell, Mi 2005
Gallery Representation:
      Khnemu Studio, Allegan, MI
      Gallery 154, Grand Rapids, Michigan
      Whistling Moose Gallery, Petoskey, Michigan
      Suncoast Tile, Largo Florida
      Eagle Tile and Marble, Eagle, Pennsylvania
      Once Upon a Tile, Fitchburg, Massachusetts
      Structures International, Nisswa, Minnesota
      Take Me Home, Palos Heights, IL
      Ruth Conklin Gallery, Glen Arbor MI
References: Provided on request.
Background:    1979-present: self-employed; designing, producing and marketing functional pottery and tile.