Graham Marks, Projects Coordinator
Graham Marks has a long and accomplished history with clay, beginning in 1968. He was particularly known and admired for his large coil built earthenware forms, which were exhibited and collected internationally. In addition to his work as an artist, Graham’s career as a teacher is very well established. He has taught at Kansas State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and was the head of the ceramics/artist in residence program at the prestigious Cranbrook Academy of Art. Following his tenure at Cranbrook, Graham’s career took a turn and he began studying acupuncture with the great English practitioner J.R. Worsley. Graham went beyond his commitment as a student and became a practicing acupuncturist for twenty-five years. He recently made the decision to return to working in clay, making wheel-thrown functional pots. His discipline and accomplishments as a ceramicist, as well as his experience working in the healing arts, brings a particular sensitivity, creative sensibility, and contribution to the SSNYC team.
Lou Kirchner Operations Manager
Lou Kirchner has been with Sculpture Space NYC since 2015. While he has assisted with many aspects of the building and maintaining of the studio, he is also an accomplished ceramic artist. Lou has a long and committed relationship to the visual arts. He has a background in painting and sculpture, having received his MFA from Yale University in 1983, along with a full scholarship from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, in 1979. Additionally, Lou was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1986. Ceramics became the focus of his creative work beginning around 2007. He experimented with different approaches and styles, currently designing lamp structures incorporating ceramic, concrete, and other mixed media. As a member of the SSNYC team, Lou oversees a multitude of responsibilities at the studio, including the chemistry lab, raw material inventory, maintaining essential equipment, and studio management. Lou’s knowledge in all these areas (all informed by his many years of creating art, making sculpture, and ceramics) make him particularly suited in his position as Operations Manager.