Gore Galleries Books Kentucky Artist Jana John

Jana John

Fans of award-winning Kentucky artist Jana John are in for a treat this summer at the Gore Galleries.

Her exhibit titled “Clay Explorations” is coming to Mississippi College's art gallery starting June 25. The show on the Clinton campus closes Aug. 6.

Art awards for John range from the Louisville Artisans Annual Exhibit in 2009 to the “Best of Show” at the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs, Mississippi in 1999.

A features assistant at Louisville's “Courier-Journal” newspaper the past eight years and co-owner of the Gallery Janjobe in Louisville since 2006, John is also a familiar face in the arts community in Central Mississippi.

The Oklahoma State University graduate is a former staff member with the Southern Style section of “The Clarion-Ledger” in Jackson. Her works have appeared in crafts shows and festivals for years in Mississippi's capital city area and most recently in Atlanta.

The Kentucky artist hand-builds pottery, both decorative and functional, using terra cotta clay. Clay masks are her specialty and her signature pieces have a cat motif. “I make cat-shaped masks, platters, bowls, spoon rests, pins, ornaments, utensil handles, fan pulls and garden stakes,” John says. “Many of my other masks are of women.”

John is a member of the Louisville Artisans Guild, the Mississippi Guild of Artists and Craftsmen, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, and the American Craft Council. She's worked as a guest artist in art classes at middle schools in Kentucky and Indiana.

The Gore Galleries will host a reception in her honor on Sunday June 27 from 2-4 p.m. The public is invited. For more information, contact Gore Galleries Director Randy Jolly at 601.925.7770 or rjolly@mc.edu.