Artists Reception for "Process as Form: Ceramic Art by Jerry Wagner"
Event Details
Process as Form: Ceramic Art by Jerry Wagner is the featured exhibition at The Gallery at Towngate August 29-November 16, 2025
An artists’ reception takes place from 6-8pm Friday, August 29. The event is free and open to the public.
About Jerry Wagner
Jerry earned an MFA in ceramic art at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Early in his career, he worked for Campbell Pottery, near Erie, PA. His duties included the glazing and firing of all the pottery made by numerous potters and production assistants that operated presses, jigger/jolly or slip cast ware. These experiences served as excellent continuing education for Jerry and helped him define the look and finish of work that he was making at the time.
After leaving Campbells Pottery, he taught for a year at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in Pittsburgh. He then secured a position as a Field Service Engineer for Swindell Dressler International Company, located in Pittsburgh.
This opportunity enabled him to learn about ceramics on a grand scale with considerably different technologies being employed than were found in the art ceramics world. After 37 years of working as a Ceramic/Combustion/Process Engineer, he retired.
During the last 37 years he continuously maintained a functioning studio and allowed production concerns that he encountered in industrial facilities to quietly influence his work. His pieces have become more functional rather than decorative or abstract, and glaze and finish are now very important to the final product.
He stated, “All glazes are developed and tested by me and while it may take years for me to add a new glaze to my work, I do it with a lot of thought about how the glaze functions with the shape and intent of the completed work.”
The Gallery at Towngate
Towngate Theatre is well known in Wheeling and its surrounding communities for community theater productions, children’s theater, concerts, ballet, film screenings, spoken word and other performing arts events. But did you know that Towngate is also an art gallery?
The Gallery at Towngate is a small space gallery that features the work of regional artists and focuses on community engagement, inclusion, and the mingling of visual and performing arts.
