Connecting Indiana’s Clay Community

The Indiana Clay Conference was co-founded by Seth Green, Associate Professor of Ceramics at Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW), and Justin Rothshank, Studio Potter, Goshen, IN. The idea for the creation of the conference was initiated over a conversation about thoroughly connecting the clay community in the Hoosier sate at Rothshank’s studio during the Michiana Pottery Tour in 2016. The inaugural conference was held at PFW in Fort Wayne, IN in 2019 and was Green’s PFW Leadership Academy project. The biennial conference takes place at Indiana universities/colleges and arts organizations throughout the state.
Co-Founders
Seth Green & Justin Rothshank

Seth Green

Justin Rothshank

Seth Green, Window Jar, Wood-Fired Stoneware (reduction-cooled)

Justin Rothshank, Plate, Soda-fired Earthenware, 11” diameter Porcelain slip, iron decal, poppy decal, Fired to cone 3
Seth Green is an Associate Professor of Ceramics at Purdue University Fort Wayne. He holds an MFA in ceramics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a BA in art from Southern Utah University.
Green’s professional experience includes internships and residencies at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Red Lodge Clay Center and the Archie Bray Foundation. He co-founded and is the Director of the Indiana Clay Conference and actively participates in the Michiana Pottery Tour.
He exhibits his work widely in solo, invitational, and juried exhibitions in venues including the LSU Museum of Art, Jueseon Memorial Museum (South Korea), and Red Lodge, Arrowmont, and the Clay Studio of Philadelphia galleries. His work is represented by Clay AKAR, Schaller, and Companion galleries. He has received numerous awards for his work that have been featured in publications including Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, and 500 Teapots. His vessels are included in notable collections at the New Orleans Museum of Art, Dankook University (South Korea), and The Archie Bray Foundation.
Green has also been a demonstrator, visiting artist, and workshop presenter at Anderson Ranch, Arrowmont, the Michigan Mud Conference, and at many universities around the country.
Justin Rothshank is a studio potter working in Goshen, Indiana since 2009. Justin’s ceramic work has been exhibited and published internationally, including articles in Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, Studio Potter, The Log Book, and several books. He has been a presenter, panelist, visiting artist, and artist-in-residence at numerous universities, schools, conferences, and art centers throughout the United States and abroad.
In 2019 Justin was selected by Traditional Arts Indiana as a Master Artist. In 2014 Justin was awarded an Individual Artist Grant by the Indiana Arts Commission. He was presented with an Award of Excellence by the American Craft Council in February 2009. In 2007 he was recognized by Ceramics Monthly Magazine as an Emerging Artist. He has also been awarded an Alcoa Foundation Leadership Grant for Arts Managers, a 2007 Work of Art Award from Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, the 2005 Decade of Servant Leadership Award from Goshen College, and was named to Pittsburgh Magazine’s 40 under 40 in 2005.
Justin's work is in the numerous public and private collections around the United States. Museum collections include: High Museum (Atlanta, GA), Frick Museum (Pittsburgh, PA), Museum of Fine Arts (Springfield, MA), San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts (San Angelo, TX)
Inaugural Conference
Purdue Fort Wayne, 2019
Presenters: Sarah Pike, Martha Grover, Mathew Metz, and Malcolm Mobutu Smith





