“FROM THE SEED” — Exhibition of Works by Teachers and Graduates of the Ceramics Department
” Each school has its own history, both written and preserved in memories, and it reminds us of itself during significant anniversaries. It invites reflection on the past, the present, and the desired future… The role of a teacher’s personality is significant in the life of any school. Each generation speaks about its teachers — those who were able to inspire enthusiasm in their work and motivate through their ideas. Those with whom a spiritual connection was formed and whose authority was trusted.
A school can be compared to a garden in which diligent gardeners work. Every autumn, seeds fall into it, and the teachers’ task as gardeners is to water, loosen the soil, fertilize, weed out unwanted growth, and ensure that the seeds begin to sprout. After several years of careful nurturing, the garden has grown lush and green. Dew sparkles on the grass, rose bushes are filled with swollen buds, trees have grown thick with lush foliage, and no one any longer remembers the first weak, fragile sprouts from four years ago. The gardeners have done their work. Whether the rose bushes will continue to bloom abundantly, whether the trees will put down deep roots into the soil, what the harvest will be — time will tell.
One hundred years is a span of time in which we can look at our flowers and trees, see how abundantly our cultivated rose bushes have bloomed and continue to bloom, how strongly our trees have grown their foliage, and which of them have become majestic trees. It does not matter in which gardens these trees and shrubs have continued to grow. Whether they have matured in the magnificent gardens of the world or flourished here, in our land, in rural silence — they are ours. Ours, who have taken on new forms of expression, yet are united by the time spent at school.
The exhibition features 63 artists of different generations — Andrejs Ķiģelis, Inta Lindemane, Daiga Aže, Biruta Spiciņa, Daina Kopštāle, Māra Kuplā, Dace Grīnberga, Anna Mētra, Leons Visockis, Herberts Erbs, Pauls Spridzāns, Zigrīda Tauriņa, Alise Volanska, Andra Pelna, Guna Petrevica, Baiba Pīra–Rezovska, Ilze Eniņa, Rudīte Jēkabsone, Žanete Siliņa, Inese Līne, Inese Ezertēva, Zane Eltermane, Iveta Aigare, Dace Virsniece, Guna Rubeža, Anda Lieģe, Līva Ozoliņa, Zīle Ozoliņa–Šneidere, Vineta Trumpeniece, Inta Medniece, Antra Mazika, Eva Keiša, Māris Iltners, Leo Lepe, Kristīne Cukura, Linda Sulutaura, Danuta Pocīte–Sīle, Lolita Onckule–Bērziņa, Kristīne Vizbule, Linda Eglīte, Arta Baltā, Māris Grosbahs, Līga Ķempe, Inga Frišfelde, Inese Markovska, Sanita Ābelīte, Ramona Rūta, Kate Māliņa, Kate Sormule, Rūdolfs Ate, Sofija Bumbule, Inese Markovska.
Many school graduates, after completing their studies, have returned to the school to connect a part of their lives with the Ceramics Department. Several of them are now looking at us and waving from “the edge of the clouds”… Rasma Bruzīte, Miķelis Pankoks, Zigfrīds Jurševskis, Eduards Geners, Georgs Svikulis, Edīte Zvagule, Sarmīte Zutere, Māra Linkaite, Žanis Rubežs, Zigrīda Lielgalve, Ingrīda Ģelze–Ozoliņa.
Former student of the school, artist Arta Baltā, believes:
“The Ceramics Department has raised generations whose works still carry the spirit of the era and the unique character of this school — the search for technique, professional precision, and thoughtful personalities with their own artistic handwriting. The school has been more than an educational institution — it has been a space to make mistakes, to search, to grow, and to find one’s sense of material. Let this exhibition be a gratitude to the school, its teachers, and a specific period of time, as well as a continuation of the story about the school and the generations who have experienced and will continue to experience its touch.””
