Exhibitions | Alice Ballard

My life’s work has been centered around observing and interpreting our natural world, and its abundant life forms, into transcendent sculptural statements as a continuing reminder of the deep interconnectedness — and inherent strength — of all things.

I consider much of my work a form of self-portraiture that documents and celebrates the phases of healing and rebirth related to traumatic events. I view life as a spiral that returns us, over time, to important people, ideas, places, and events. To that end, much of the work has required decades of germination before emerging as something tangible in the studio.

It is my deepest desire that those who connect with my work can share in the calming, grounded narratives that reveal themselves to me during the creative process. “Healer be healed” has become a mantra for me as a reminder of how our eternal stories of struggle, growth, renewal, and hope continue to connect each of us to ourselves, one another, and our very wise, and wondrously brave, natural world.

Join us for Opening Night on September 13th from 6 – 8PM at TRAX Visual Art Center. This exhibition will be on display through December 28th, 2024 and is open Tuesday – Saturday from 11AM to 5PM each day. Admission is free.

Access the media kit by clicking HERE.

Alice Ballard

Clover, SC

ALICE BALLARD, B. 1945

Alice Ballard is a master ceramic sculptor born in Florence, SC. Ballard spent her formative years traveling and living around the world, including Paris, France, with her Air Force family before settling in her current home in Upstate South Carolina.

Ballard’s life’s work has been centered around observing and interpreting our universal world, and its abundant life forms, into transcendent sculptural statements as a continuing reminder of the deep interconnectedness of all things.

Ballard received her Masters Degree in Art from the University of Michigan before becoming a professional artist and educator. Her teaching experience spans five decades and includes artist residencies in southern Alaska, leading classrooms at Charlotte, NC Country Day in the mid-80s, positions at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC, Coastal Carolina in Conway, SC, Penland School of Crafts in Penland, NC, Arrowmont Craft School in Gatlinburg, TN, the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in Spartanburg, SC, and Christ Church Episcopal Middle School, both in Greenville, SC. Ballard has also led multiple museum workshops including sessions at the Greenville County Museum of Art. Her steadfast commitment to craft and mentorship was formally recognized in 2019 with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in the Arts from Wofford College.

As a recipient of a Fulbright grant, Ballard studied in India, was one of eight ceramic artists to be invited to the International Ceramic Colony in Resen, Macedonia, has been supported by the NEA, and received two South Carolina Arts Commission Fellowships. She was awarded a MAC grant through West Virginia University, Morgantown and spent a summer studying in China.

Ballard has had solo shows at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, and the Greenville County Museum of Art in Greenville, SC. A series of ceramic sculptures, Wild Garlic, is in the collections of the The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, Arrowmont School, the Mint Museum of Art, and the Greenville County Museum of Art. Ballard’s work traveled as part of Tradition/Innovation: American Masterpieces of Southern Craft & Traditional Art, an exhibition organized by South Arts, Atlanta, GA and the Knoxville Museum of Art, TN.

Ballard recently retired from the classroom but maintains a studio practice in Clover, SC, under the watchful eye of her architect husband, Roger Dalrymple, and their two loving standard poodles. Her work can be enjoyed online at alliceballard.com and on Instagram @aliceballard64. Ballard is represented by Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville, NC, and Cerbera Gallery in Kansas City, MO.