A Celebration of Ceramics on Display at Bisignano Art Gallery

DUBUQUE, Iowa - "Nature's Faces: Crow Haven Ceramics and Mississippi Mud Studios" is an intimate, communal exhibition at the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery that celebrates ceramics as both narrative and practice - objects that hold memory, labor, and quiet beauty.

The exhibition features nearly 80 pieces of work from Midwest ceramic artists Dean Wellman and Denise McCullough, of Crow Haven Ceramics, and Gary Carstens, of Mississippi Mud Studios. The works are varied as they move between portraiture, vessels, and elemental sculpture.

"An exhibition like 'Nature's Faces' has never been attempted in the Bisignano Art Gallery," said Noah Bullock (C'21, MMS'25), coordinator of the art gallery. "This season is about breaking the norm and moving into the future. Patrons will see works and studio processes rarely displayed together. Many pieces evoke familiar rhythms, histories, and memories while offering a modern, creative twist."

"Nature's Faces: Crow Haven Ceramics and Mississippi Mud Studios" is free and open to the public Monday, November 3, 2025, through Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at the art gallery inside Heritage Center, 2255 Bennett Street.

In his artist statement, Wellman shared how his clay work seems to reflect the 11 cities he has lived in - not necessarily the places themselves, but the people he has met along the way.

"They are interpretations, I believe, of the personalities, stories, and individuals I've encountered in my travels," he said.

McCullough's artist statement addressed how working with clay is an ongoing experiment.

"Creating vessels that are attractive, useful, and hopefully bring someone a little joy is my goal," she said. "I am just a student of this oldest human invention and I'm having a great time learning this ancient medium."

Carstens, in his artist statement, discussed how his clay work has always been brought by landscape.

"Understanding, seeing, and finding a voice to interpret into clay is a very personal journey," he said. "The reward makes that fleeting moment of sight and interpretation permanent and recorded."

A free pre-show reception for "Nature's Faces: Crow Haven Ceramics and Mississippi Mud Studios" will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, December, 13, 2025, in the art gallery. The reception will take place in conjunction with The Texas Tenors "Deep in the Heart of Christmas," sponsored by Mark and Cheryl Falb and the Falb Family Foundation and presented by the Dubuque Arts Council, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in John and Alice Butler Hall, Heritage Center. For more information or to purchase tickets to the performance, please visit https://www.dbq.edu/HeritageCenter.

"The artists' dedication to craft and to one another's practices has shaped an exhibition that feels both personal and communal," Bullock said. "Their works transport you into their way of life and reveals the bond and creativity that ceramics and the arts create. I invite you to spend time with these objects and carry a few of their stories with you. It truly is a one-of-a-kind exhibition at the University of Dubuque."

Bisignano Art Gallery hours are noon to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday during the academic year. The gallery is also open in conjunction with all major events in John and Alice Butler Hall, Heritage Center.