In the wake of the recent devastating earthquake in Japan, ceramic artist and Penland instructor Ayumi Horie has mobilized an online fundraising effort by the studio ceramics community to contribute to desperately needed relief and aid missions. With the help of her friends Ai Kanazawa Cheung and Kathryn Pombriant Manzella, she has organized Handmade for Japan, an online auction of unique, handmade art generously donated by talented artists and their galleries and collectors throughout North America and Japan. Handmade For Japan aims to raise over $50,000 and all of the net proceeds will be donated for GlobalGiving’s relief efforts in Japan.

The auction will be held on Ebay from 8:00pm EST, Thursday, March 24 to 8:00pm EST, Sunday, March 27.

Click here to go to the Handmade for Japan auction site on Ebay Giving Works.

The site will appear empty until the auction begins. A preview of auction items is available on the Handmade for Japan Facebook page (click here to visit).

The auction includes work by such ceramics luminaries as Jun Kaneko, Toshiko Takaezu, Shoji Hamada, Warren Mackenzie, and Betty Woodman, and by a number of Penland-affiliated artists, including Jana Evans, Michael Hunt and Naomi Daglish, Matt Kelleher, Michael Kline, Shoko Teruyama, Ron Meyers, SunKoo Yuh, among others. We applaud their generosity, and Ayumi and her co-organizers’ vision and compassion, and encourage everyone to consider giving their support to this worthy cause.