Richard Rowland, a longtime resident of Astoria and nationally respected artist, will be exhibiting an installation titled “Sanctification of Place” at RiverSea Gallery May 13 through June 7. The installation is a metaphorical reproduction of the Astoria Dragon Kiln and is a collaborative project conceived by Rowland and achieved by a community of potters. Meet the artists at the opening reception and enjoy the music of Brian O’Connor and David Drury from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 13.

A ceramic artist and instructor at Clatsop Community College, Rowland has created an exhibit that merges education with aesthetics, as well as acknowledging that which he considers sacred. Rowland is known for his unique wood-fire anagama kiln. This type of ceramic firing originated in China some 4,000 years ago. The firing process of an anagama kiln is extremely labor intensive, requiring a team of people to collect wood, load the kiln and stoke the fire throughout the two- to three-week firing process.

Having always felt the importance of community and a connection to place, Rowland was inspired by the anagama process more than 20 years ago. Rowland utilized bricks from old cannery boilers that were dug out of the mud along the banks of the Columbia River to build the walls of the kiln. The Astoria Dragon kiln, a 30-foot-long kiln built into a hillside, is one of the first of its kind to be established in this country and has been utilized for more than 100 firings by ceramic artists from around the globe.

Rowland asks all participants in a firing to bring wood from their place of origin. “All this energy coming in from many directions is more spontaneous and leads to more discovery,” he explains. Rowland also considers the anagama process a tool that “opens collaboration between professional potters and community people such as fishermen and firemen. For many such people, this is their first encounter with art.”

The installation, “Sanctification of Place,” was originally created and included in the 40th conference for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, an annual event that was recently held in Portland. The concept of the exhibit is to recognize a geographical region by its mythical form and matter. Rowland and the group of potters contributing to the installation wanted to illustrate not only the anagama kiln form, but also its symbology and connection to place. Rowland and the team created cast rib bones of a whale from clay to house both functional and nonfunctional pottery forms. The ceramic work has been positioned within the “kiln” in the exact manner as if for an actual firing. The whalebones represent the walls of the kiln, a tunnel-like vessel that illustrates the process of passage. The installation “immerses the viewer in the power and presence of the firing and its coastal environment by connecting Pacific Northwest myth, native culture and natural history with our wood fire community,” says Rowland.

This collaborative project includes the ceramic work of Eddie Park, Cilla Russell, Randy McClelland, Brian Swanson, Jan Shield, Barb Campbell, Dennis Thomason, Hiroshi Ogawa, Jerrold Martisak, Brad Menninga and Lillian Pitt. All participants have worked in the communal effort of firing the Astoria Dragon kiln.

Rowland, who has taught ceramics and sculpture at Clatsop Community College since 2001, has been a professional potter for more than 30 years. He has studied both art and philosophy, recently earning his Master of Fine Art and Design degree from the University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania. He has participated in exhibitions across the country as well as in Guam and Tasmania. Rowland is widely respected for his community involvement such as the annual event Lovin’ Soupful Benefit, a fundraiser for the Clatsop County Women’s Resource Center, teaching ceramic workshops for At Risk Youth programs through Tongue Point Job Corps Center and participating in the North Coast Job Fair at Clatsop Community College. Rowland was also the recipient of the 2004/2005 Governor’s Arts Award. He has been a guest lecturer on the practice of anagama and has also been included in such publications as “Woodfired Ceramics Contemporary Practices” by Coll Minogue and Robert Sanderson, and “Before the Temple of Fire” by Barry Lopez. Rowland has also published several catalogues that have accompanied exhibitions. A catalog is available for “Sanctification of Place.”