Materials: Hard + Soft Call 2024

Ann is a Professor of Art and Graduate Coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois Sculpture Department, and her BFA from the Colorado State University Fibers Department. Ann utilizes a variety of traditional and innovative fiber techniques including twining, looping, lashing and netting in her sculptural forms. Her recent work is deeply rooted in organic vessels that reference the body, natural and found objects, that enter into a complex dialogue about our place in the world and our impact on the environment. Ann has recently taught at the Penland School of Crafts, at Indigo Blue Hawaii studios, the Chicago North Suburban Needle Arts Guild and upcoming this spring for Fibre Arts Australia and Fibre Arts New Zealand. Coddington serves as the chair of Exhibitions Committee and as a member of the board for the National Basketry Organization.

Du Chau was born in Vietnam and came to the United States in 1981. He has pursued a medical career in pathology and is currently a Pathology Technical Coordinator at Methodist Hospital of Dallas. After taking art classes at Dallas College Brookhaven Campus, he took a sabbatical from his medical career to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and a Master of Fine Arts Degree at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Du Chau lives and works in Dallas, Texas. He has exhibited his work throughout the United States, including the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Amarillo Museum of Arts, and Wichita Falls. Du Chau is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Port Harcourt and Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria in 2019. He is the recipient of the 2017 NCECA International Residency Award, which allowed him to work at the Curaumilla Arts Center in Chile, and in 2016, he was awarded a residency from the CRETA Foundation in Rome, Italy.

Mary Hallam Pearse received her M.F.A. in Metal from SUNY New Paltz and a B.F.A. in Crafts with an emphasis in Jewelry and Metals from Kent State University. In her ongoing work, Mary is interested in how jewelry has functioned historically as a marker of status, class, wealth, and a record of human experience. Curatorial projects include: Crafting History: Textiles, Metals and Ceramics at the University of Georgia, Parallels: Jonathan Wahl and Sondra Sherman, The Ring Shows: Then & Now and Putting the Band Back Together, and Coming into View. Currently, she is Associate Director of Space, Technology and Communication and Associate Professor in the jewelry and metalwork area at The Lamar Dodd School of Art in Athens, Georgia. Her work has been selected for competitive exhibitions in museums and galleries both nationally and internationally and included in publications such as Metalsmith, Ornament and American Craft.

Eileen is a Senior Lecturer in Printmaking and Book Arts at the University of Georgia. She is a former resident artist at Penland School of Craft and has taught workshops at Penland, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and at other venues across the country. Eileen is a co-director emeritus of the Paper & Book Intensive (PBI) and has been a board member of Hand Papermaking Magazine. She curated the book Masters: Book Arts published by Lark Books in 2011.