Visiting Artist Series Gallery Talk with Josh Copus
Gallery talk with Earth Tones artist Josh Copus
Josh Copus is an artist and creative entrepreneur from Marshall, North Carolina.
His primary focus throughout his life has been his work in the field of ceramics. He received a BFA from the University of North Carolina in Asheville in 2007 and is a 2006 recipient of the prestigious Windgate Fellowship.
Josh is an internationally famous ceramic artist who has travelled the world as a teacher, conference presenter and leader in the field. He has worked extensively in Australia, Mexico, China, and throughout Europe. His work is found in numerous museum and personal collections in the world. His work in ceramics deals primarily with local materials and placed based making processes to create work that is both personally significant and relevant to the contemporary world.
He is the Founder of the Clayspace Collective in the River Arts District in Asheville, which is a studio and gallery space that has been supporting artists for over 20 years.
In 2007 Josh established his woodfired pottery compound in Marshall. He bought two acres of land, burned an old house down, built a 27-foot long woodburning kiln and a studio. His pottery compound is an ever-evolving art installation which continues to be his base of operations to this day.
Josh is the owner of Zadie’s Market and the Old Marshall Jail Hotel, which are both housed in the Old Marshall Jail, a building that he spearheaded the renovation of and he co-owns. The Old Marshall Jail is an adaptive reuse project that functions as a home to two of his businesses and is also a social practice art project, music venue and a living history museum.
He is also the founder of the Building Community Project, which uses the mediums of clay and bricks to create folk monuments that honor the people of this world.
His latest project is revitalizing a trailer park in his native Appalachia to create affordable work force housing and community while redefining the negative stigmas that people maintain about trailer parks. He also lives there, which is important.
He is know for his infectious enthusiasm, ability to connect people for a common cause and his passion for the Arts.
Josh’s hobbies include welding, building rock walls, doing firewood and historical research on the Old Marshall Jail. When he is not sleeping, he is constantly searching for interesting materials to build and make things with.
