NEWSLETTER
April 9 conversation at the Tang brings together artists working across ceramics and painting
Saratoga Springs, NY (March 18, 2026) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College invites the public to a Dunkerley Dialogue with sculptor Kathy Butterly, painter Elena Sisto, and Matthew Wilt, Robert Davison Chair in Art and Associate Professor of Ceramics at Skidmore College, on Thursday, April 9, at 6 pm, in the Payne Room.
The program is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Kathy Butterly: Assume Yes, on view at the Tang through July 26. For more than three decades, Butterly has reimagined the tradition of studio ceramics through small-scale sculptures of remarkable complexity, wit, and formal invention. Her works twist, compress, and reshape traditional ceramic forms into objects that feel at once playful and emotionally charged.
This Dunkerley Dialogue brings Butterly into conversation with Sisto and Wilt, two artists whose practices offer distinct perspectives on form, surface, and expression. Together, they will explore the possibilities of material, process, and artistic exchange across disciplines. Wilt is also the curator of Earthbound, an exhibition of ceramic works by eleven contemporary artists on view March 19 through April 19 in the Schick Art Gallery at Skidmore’s Saisselin Art Building.
Dunkerley Dialogues pair Skidmore faculty members with artists in conversation, creating opportunities for new connections and understandings across disciplines and sparking fresh ideas for participants and audiences alike. This conversation with Butterly is the 80th event in the ongoing series, which is made possible by a generous gift from Michele Dunkerley ’80.
This event is free and open to the public and will include ASL interpretation. For more information, visit tang.skidmore.edu or call the Tang Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080.
About the Participants
Kathy Butterly is a sculptor who has reimagined the tradition of studio ceramics for nearly four decades. She begins with a traditional ceramic form, which she calls her “canvas,” and twists, compresses, and reshapes it into expressive and unexpected sculptures. Layered glazes and repeated firings give her works rich color and texture, creating pieces that can feel both playful and unsettling. Rather than working on a large scale, Butterly focuses on small, highly individual sculptures that suggest movement, personality, and emotion. Born in 1963 in Amityville, New York, she has exhibited widely in the United States and abroad. Her work is held in major museum collections, including The Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She lives and works in New York and Maine.
Elena Sisto is known for figurative paintings that frequently focus on the experiences of women. Her paintings explore identity, memory, and the nuances of everyday life. She earned her BA in Art from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design and also studied at the New York Studio School, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and Yale Norfolk. Sisto has received numerous honors, including a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Grant, a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowships. She has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions including the Maier Museum, the Greenville County Museum of Art, the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, and the Miami-Dade Museum of Art and Design. Her work is held in public and private collections, and she lives and works in New York City and Milan, New York.
Matthew Wilt is a ceramic artist and the Robert Davison Chair in Art and Associate Professor of Ceramics at Skidmore College. His work engages material history, surface, and architectural influence through sculptural and vessel-based forms. He earned his BFA in Ceramics and Art Education from Penn State University and his MFA from Ohio University, and early professional experiences at Boston Valley Terra Cotta and Moravian Pottery and Tileworks shaped his sustained interest in plaster mold making, imitative glaze surfaces, and architectural ornament. Wilt has exhibited nationally and internationally, and his work has received numerous honors, including grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council. His pieces are held in public collections such as the de Young Museum, the Crocker Art Museum, and the Ceramic Research Center at Arizona State University. He lives and works in New York.
Also on View
The Schick Art Gallery presents Earthbound, ceramic works by eleven contemporary artists curated by Matthew Wilt to show a wide range of techniques and aesthetic visions. From figurative to abstract and from functional to fantastic, Earthbound presents clay work at the highest level of craftsmanship and invention. The artists on view will be Bekah Bliss, Pattie Chalmers, Judy Fox, Brett Freund, Arthur Gonzalez, Brian Harper, Benjie Heu, Kyle Johns, Linda Lopez, Chris Staley, and Shoko Teruyama. The exhibition will be on view in the gallery in the Saisselin Art Building from March 19 through April 19, 2026, with an opening reception and artists talk with Fox and Heu on March 19 beginning at 5:00 pm.
About Skidmore College
Founded in 1903, Skidmore College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college of about 2,700 students located in the dynamic town of Saratoga Springs, New York. Consistently ranked as a top liberal arts college by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, Forbes, and more, Skidmore has also been recognized for its innovation, value, and sustainability efforts. Skidmore fosters academic and personal excellence — all driven by a belief that Creative Thought Matters. Its comprehensive array of opportunities encompasses more than 40 bachelor’s degree programs, including popular offerings in business, psychology, and the creative and performing arts; competitive NCAA Division III athletics; world-class facilities; and hands-on civic engagement and career development resources.
About the Tang Teaching Museum
The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the Tang’s approach has become a model for college and university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs that bring together visual and performing arts with interdisciplinary ideas from history, economics, biology, dance, and physics, to name just a few. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, and a robust publication and touring exhibition program that extends the museum’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s award-winning building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of art and ideas. The Museum is open to the public on Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm Thursdays. tang.skidmore.edu
Image: Installation view Kathy Butterly: Assume Yes, Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, 2026, photo by Mindy McDaniel