Grace LaForge

Grace has always been a maker. Her love for shaping clay and other materials, can be traced back to a childhood where she was included in the tasks of making pasta, sewing and tending a large family garden in the Bronx.

She has taught Art most of her adult life, to children from grades K through 12 as well as adult classes. The past 20 years have been spent at Bonnie Brae in Liberty Corner, teaching Art and Ceramics to youth in a Special Ed setting. While there, she especially loved spearheading annual pottery-making events which involved all students and staff in raising funds for worthy causes: Soup Bowls for Hunger, Pies and Plates for Puerto Rico, Smile Train Tiles, to name a few. She especially loves collaborative efforts like the group sculpture done by the Friday morning Open Studio Ceramics group for the Evanescent show at duCret.

Although she continually acquired skill and knowledge in myriad materials and techniques, (e.g., Calligraphy, Book Arts, Polymer clay) she always gravitated toward clay. Her time spent learning from and working with Simon Keller since 2012, afforded her a deeper connection to the sculptural aspect of clay and wild clay itself. She has also embraced her inner nerd in studying glaze chemistry. Since 2019 she has been teaching at duCret School of Art. Grace has been instrumental in implementing the Open Studio Ceramics. She enjoys continuing to learn and sharing that learning with others.

She earned a Master’s in Art Education at Queens College, NY and Special Ed Certification at Rutgers School of Education. Professional development: CCA, Arts Horizons Art Educators Institute, Old Church Cultural Center, Frank Giorgini: tile-making and clay drums.