Dawn Detarando

Dawn Detarando is a ceramic artist from Red Deer, Alberta. Originally from Massachusetts, she received her Bachelor of Fine Art from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1996 and her Master Of Fine Art from The Ohio State University in 1998. Dawn has taught at the College and University levels and gives lectures, workshops and demonstrations in the ceramic arts. She currently runs a successful business Voyager Art and Tile which she co–owns with partner Brian McArthur. They create Public Art and a line of decorative tiles for the gift market. The company is a member of 1% For The Planet, which donates 1% of their yearly income to a local environmental organization.

In her studio, Dawn works on a body of sculptural art dealing with the narrative of migration. She is inspired by her prairie surroundings and distant mountains but is reminded by the migrating birds and her strong connection to the ocean. Using metaphors and a symbolic vocabulary of clay objects, she produces sculpture that expresses a need to migrate or travel.

Dawn is a board member with the Alberta Crafts Council of Edmonton, Alberta and the Museum and Art Gallery of Red Deer. She has a two-year position as Vice President on the Alberta Potters Association.

When she is not working for her business or on her own sculptural work, she is practicing the art of swimming competitively, leisurely hiking, biking, canoeing, cross country skiing and working the gardens around her home.