About the Artist

Sumi von Dassow attended the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1982-1984 and San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 1985-1987. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Art with an emphasis in Ceramics.

Sumi was Director of the pottery program at the Washington Heights Art Center of the Lakewood Heritage, Culture and Arts Program of the City of Lakewood in Lakewood, Colorado for 22 years. She taught pottery at all levels, including hand-building, wheel-throwing, glaze mixing and formulating, and pit-firing workshops. She mixed glazes and loaded and fired kilns. She built the mini wood kiln there and developed many of the glazes teachers and students use.

In 2021, Sumi moved to Beulah, Colorado and opened Beulah Valley Pottery at 8868 Grand Ave., Beulah 81023.

Sumi has been a frequent contributor to Pottery Making Illustrated Magazine since its inception in 1997. She has participated in the Denver Potters Association and Castle Clay shows each year since 1998. Sumi conducted annual pit firings for the City of Breckenridge from 2001 through 2015 and helped design and test the pit in the Breckenridge Arts District.

Selected Shows

• Washington Heights Peculiar, invitational, Lakewood Cultural Center, 2017
• From the Fire, Contemporary Works in Ceramic Art, invitational, Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood CO 2016
• Juror and workshop presenter, Art Center at La Veta, La Veta CO July 2010
• Members and Mentors, invitational, Arvada Ceramic Arts Guild, Arvada CO, 2009
• Rest in Beauty, solo show of funeral urns, Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, CO, 2008
• Rocky Mountain Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ft. Collins CO, 2004 & 2006.
• Two by Two, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA Feb.17 - April 1 2005
• Colorado Artists Guild, Artists of Colorado, Denver Botanic Gardens, 2004, First Place
• Sculpture Also Artists of Colorado 2000, Third Place Sculpture.
• North American Sculpture Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Golden CO, 2004
• "Equinox Celebration", two-person show at Breckenridge Theatre Gallery, Breckenridge CO, 2004
• Invitational show “From Inside the Clay Studio” Lakewood Cultural Center, 2003
• Solo Show, Art Center on Main, Garden City, KS, 2003
• Craft Forms 2002, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA, 2003. Also Craft Forms 2001
• ANA 31, Holter Museum of Art, Helena MT, 2002. Also ANA 30, Aug. 24-Oct. 28, 2001
• Old Firehouse Art Center 3-D Juried Exhibition, 2002. Second Place
• Feats of Clay VIII, Lincoln Arts, Lincoln, CA, 1995, Two Merit Awards
• Feats of Clay IX, Lincoln Arts, Lincoln, CA, 1996, Merit Award Winner.
• Feats of Clay XV, Lincoln Arts, Lincoln, CA, 2002.
• Naked Clay, three-person show at Lakewood Civic Center South Gallery, Lakewood CO, 2001, Curator.
• Colorado Clay, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO 2001. Award, '97, '96 and '95.
• Solo show, the Potter’s House, Heritage Square, Golden, CO, 2000.
• Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver CO, 1996 & 1999.
• 17th Annual Hoyt National Art Show, Hoyt Institute, New Castle, PA 1998 Purchase award.
• Texas National 98, SFA Gallery, Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches TX, Honorable Mention.
• The Object of Colorado, Denver International Airport, 1997.
• Topeka Competition 21, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, 1997, Cash & Purchase Awards
• Selected Workshops
• Functional Pottery demonstration, Old Forge Art Center, Old Forge MN. November 2016
• Pit firing workshop, Edina Art Center, September 2014
• Potters Council workshop, Alternative Firing Surfaces, Edina Art Center, October 2013
• Pit firing workshop, Salt Spring Island, Canada, October 2011
• Potters Council workshop, Burnishing and alternative firing, May 2011

Recognition

• Pit-Fired works by Sumi were included in Pit Firing Ceramics: Modern Methods, Ancient Traditions by Dawn Whitehand, 2013
• Pit-fired works by Sumi were included in Alternative Kilns and Firing Techniques by James C. Watkins and Paul Andrew Wandless, 2004
• Profiled in Summit Daily News of Breckenridge, Colorado, Oct. 19, 2007 in Leslie Brefeld's "Right Brain" column