WAUKESHA – Ceramicist Jeff Noska, who teaches art at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha and works out of his Composite Clay Studio in Dousman, won the second-place award in the Clarke College, Dubuque, IA, Art Department and Quigley Gallery’s Big Muddy, a juried ceramic exhibit of the Mississippi River Valley.

From works submitted by 102 artists representing all ten states bordering the Mississippi River, the jurors selected 42 pieces by 38 artists, including two of Noska’s: his award-winning “Teapot on Base” and  his “Double Nuclei.” The exhibit in the College’s Quigley Gallery runs from February 8-March 8, 2007.

Noska heads the sculpture and ceramics programs at UW-Waukesha and co-directed the planning and construction in 1997 of the campus’s huge, Anagama-type wood-fired kiln. He also oversaw the 2002 building of a smaller, Bourry Box kiln at the same site, at the UW-Waukesha Field Station, located 10 miles west of campus on Waterville Road.

He creates work with architectural lines, producing useful pieces with artistic flair, and takes advantage of the special flame and ash deposits given off in firing with wood.

Noska holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UW-Superior and MFA from the University of Notre Dame.

UW-Waukesha has the largest enrollment among the 13 freshman-sophomore University of Wisconsin Colleges campuses. For information about programs, admission, or financial aid, contact the Student Services office at (262) 521-5200 or visit the Web at www.waukesha.uwc.edu.

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