Justin Rothshank has been working as a studio ceramic artist in Goshen, Indiana since 2009. In 2001 he co-founded the Union Project, a nonprofit organization located in Pittsburgh, PA.
This collection of work has been fired in a gas fired soda kiln. These earthenware pieces are often decorated by building up layers of color, texture, and imagery. Rothshank likes to use porcelain slip, clay additives like feldspar or sand, colored underglaze, glass, and decals. These pieces represent nearly 15 years of research in firing earthenware in atmospheric kilns. Many of these pieces have surface inconsistencies that keep the texture interesting.
Justin’s ceramic work has been exhibited and published nationally and internationally, including articles in Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, Studio Potter, The Log Book, and Neue Keramik. He has been a presenter, panelist, visiting artist, and artist-in-residence at numerous universities, schools, conferences, and art centers throughout the United States and abroad. His functional and decorative ceramic ware is available for purchase in more than two dozen galleries and gift shops around the country.
Justin was presented with a 2017 Individual Advancement Grant from the Indiana State Arts Council, and Award of Excellence by the American Craft Council in February 2009. In 2007 he was recognized by Ceramics Monthly Magazine as an Emerging Artist. He has also been awarded an Alcoa Foundation Leadership Grant for Arts Managers, a 2007 Work of Art Award from Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, the 2005 Decade of Servant Leadership Award from Goshen College, and was named to Pittsburgh Magazine’s 40 under 40 in 2005.
