ClayCrits is a collaborative effort between Chuck Purviance and Nicole Woodard. 


CHUCK PURVIANCE is currently the studio manager at the Des Moines Art Center in Des Moines, Iowa. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has been working in the arts and education field as a potter, sculptor, instructor, and community arts organizer for the past 12 years. Purviance earned his BFA from Edinboro University in 2013 with minors in art history and printmaking, and MFA from Wichita State University in 2020. Between programs, he was an artist in residence at the Brockway Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT), where he began teaching and working with high school students. Later, Purviance became the studio coordinator and teaching artist for the next 3 years. He has a vast knowledge of surfaces decoration techniques, glaze chemistry, and cold surface finishes. Purviance has overseen over 20 community murals in clay and non-fired materials, such as paint, wood, and found objects. 
 
His current research and body of work revolve around abstract sculptural forms that are inspired by his experience with and working through anxiety and depression that he has dealt with through his life. 

http://www.chuckpurviance.com/ @chuckpurviance
NICOLE RENE WOODARD is an interdisciplinary sculptor from southeastern Wisconsin. She recently earned a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Kansas in 2021. In 2017, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Nicole was awarded the Foundation Residency at Belger Crane Yard in Kansas City, MO in 2021. During 2020, she completed short term residencies at Penland School of Crafts and the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences. From June 2017-2018, she was the artist-in-residence/intern at James May Gallery in Algoma, WI. Nicole has been exhibiting nationally and has received awards for her artwork, including Best in Show for “Self Portrait” from the Southern Miss Ceramics National in 2020, and the Brosseau Art Award for “Hesitant” from the Spencer Museum of Art in 2021.

Her current body of work explores the vulnerabilities of being. 

​​http://nicolerenewoodard.com/ @nicolerenewoodard