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Simon Levin & Cat Traen | Episode 614

Today is a special release day. Instead of releasing two episodes on Tuesday and Thursday, The Potters Cast is releasing both of this week’s episode on Tuesday. As a result of NCECA 2020 conference getting canceled this year, the normal process of NCECA having a dedicated time of having the candidates for the Director at Large and the Student Director at Large share about what they would bring to the position and then to answer questions from the audience wasn’t available. These two episodes are the replacement platform to allow these fine candidates to share their stories. In this first episode we are going to dedicate this to the position of Director at Large. These two candidates, Simon Levin and Cat Traen, will be the first to go.

A little about the process. I invited all four to schedule an time with me. The recordings were done on a “first come, first served” basis. And then they were put together in the same manner. I hope you enjoy these conversations.

Simon Levin

Simon Levin has been working in clay since 1990, when an elective ceramics course in college lead to an M.A. and an M.F.A from the University of Iowa.  He is a full time studio potter working exclusively with wood firing. His work is exhibited and published internationally. Simon is a writer for many ceramic journals, though he dislikes writing about himself in the third person. In 2013 he was a Senior Fulbright Scholar researching local materials.   Simon has built wood fired kilns for both US colleges and universities as well as schools in Taiwan and China. Between 2004 and 2019 his apprenticeship program has trained and influenced 21 potters. A resident of Wisconsin for 18 years, Simon has recently moved to Pawnee Illinois where he is currently re-establishing his pottery.

Cat Traen

C.A. “Cat” Traen is a international teaching artist working in clay since 2002, earning degrees from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Motivated by enriching others through community building and collaboration, Cat has mentored thousands of students and teachers to equip and ignite the next generation in clay.

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