Art professor Lydia Thompson to be honored by global ceramic arts organization

Lydia Thompson, professor of art, will receive a 2024 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Honorary Member Award at the organization’s annual conference in Richmond, Virginia.

For more than five decades, recipients of the Honorary Member Award have been recognized as individuals “whose commitments to creativity, scholarship, activism or professionalism have made transformative contributions to the ceramic arts.”

Thompson, former chair of the Department of Art & Art History, has served as a juror and curator for exhibitions around the country and has worked with youth groups in the community. Her work has been featured in galleries, museums and art centers worldwide, and she has conducted workshops and taught lectures across the United States. In 2022, she was the Constellation CLT artist at the Mint Museum of Art.

NCECA is a global organization that aims to deepen knowledge within the field of ceramic arts while cultivating the next generation of ceramic artists and enthusiasts. With more than 4,000 members in 20-plus countries, the organization reaches thousands of additional individuals yearly through programs, events, exhibitions, publications and resources.

Current student Teriyana Wright will be honored at this year’s NCECA conference on March 20. She received an NCECA Multicultural Fellowship to attend the event. Wright anticipates completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art with a concentration in 3-D art this year.