Casey Beck

Beck is currently a third year Master of Fine Arts candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he is studying ceramics. His current research focuses on the process of soda firing, which utilizes soda ash, or sodium carbonate, and its volatilization inside the nearly 2300°F gas-fired kiln to glaze his wares. The wares he makes are utilitarian in nature and encourage a dialogue between user, process, material, and self. The forms reference brutalist architecture, Italian glass and ceramic wares and natural occurrences. After completion of his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2019, Beck spent two years living and working in Saint Paul, Minnesota. During this time, he continued to make pottery and research soda firing, work in the Sales Gallery at Northern Clay Center (NCC) in Minneapolis, MN, and taught classes. Beck has been a resident artist at the Cub Creek Foundation and Faenza Art Ceramic Center, was awarded the 2020 Jerome Ceramic Artist Project Grant through NCC, is a 2023 Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist and has taught workshops internationally. Outside of the studio, Beck takes pleasure in using handmade pots and eating delicious home cooked meals off of them with his friends while listening to music fitted for each experience.