Last Saturday a bunch of us KCAI clay enthusiasts attended Jun Kaneko’s amazing kiln opening of a project he’s spent nearly 3 years completing. In collaboration with Mission Clay of Pittsburg, Kansas – a manufaturer of commercial sewage pipes – Kaneko and his team built large-scale Dangos and Heads that were fired on-site in these gigantic beehive kilns. All of these photos were taken by Gabriel Reed of Kansas City. 
The Heads were some of the largest of their kind, and part of the intensity was entering the kiln interior to mingle with these incredible creations. I really loved viewing them in their “natural habitat”, so to speak. 
Jun Kaneko was a very generous host, providing a gorgeous barbeque banquet, live classical music, libations, and a setting for it all that couldn’t be beat. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather actually, and the kiln yard bricks, pipes, and other industrial jewels provided an inspiring landscape. Here is a shot of some of my students from the Art Institute – I think it is fair to say we all had a fantastic time! 
Thanks, Jun, for a very memorable day…
October 2, 2007
Jun Kaneko’s Mission Clay Project Opening
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Hey Christa, this event was definately a great time.
The artists whose statements I researched are:
Chris Gustin, Emily Murphey and Kirk Mangus.
All were very interesting and helpful in their own ways towards writing my own statement.
See ya tomorrow!
Bowie
Comment by bowiecroisant — October 11, 2007 @ 9:09 pm
Here are the artists I found with artist statements on their websites.
Andrea Fabrega – http://www.tinypots.com
Troy Schmidt – http://www.reddragonpottery.com/mini.htm
Debbie Barrett-Jones – http://web.mac.com/debbiebarrettjones/iWeb/Business/Home.html (click on statement)
~Ruby Tapp
Comment by rubytapp — October 11, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
[...] (Japanese for Dumpling) on site in these GIGANTIC kilns!!! Theres a little more information on Christa Assad’s blog/website if you are interested. Jun Kaneko came to the US from Japan in 1963 to study painting, [...]
Pingback by MECA CERAMICS » Good golly miss molly giant beehive kilns!!! — November 14, 2007 @ 4:21 am
Amazing! Totally insane actually. Thanks for sharing.
Comment by ashesandmilk — May 3, 2008 @ 12:25 am