decades of collaboration
linda doherty & sharon reay
mar 1 - 31 | 2026
craft council of bc
artists statement about the work
During the late 1980’s/early 1990’s, the fates of 3 ceramic artists (individuals with distinctly different work styles, backgrounds and skill sets) converged at the Burnaby Arts Centre (which became the Shadbolt Centre in 1995). They were: Linda Doherty, Sharon Reay and Jay MacLennan. Over time, each took on different roles in the administration – Jay (Technician/Instructor), Linda (Instructor/Technician) and Sharon (Teacher/Program Assistant, eventually Ceramic Programmer). The friendship had already developed.
What followed spanned roughly 30+ years of working, playing, collaborating and creating partnerships and connections throughout the broader ceramic community – in the lower mainland, BC and beyond.
This window installation shines a light upon some of the projects, events, and exhibitions facilitated by that team approach, through physical items displayed, images and written information.
sharon reay’s bio
Sharon Reay first discovered clay in the Millstream, near her Nanaimo home, as a child. She attended the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University) after high school and, as a young mother, rediscovered clay at the Burnaby Arts Centre. After 10 years in her own studio, she began teaching classes at the BAC (now the Shadbolt Centre). This evolved into assisting programs and, eventually, becoming Ceramic Arts Programmer, until her retirement in 2017. She worked with staff, planning and operating programs, workshops and special events – also partnering with community groups, guilds and individual artists in facilitating international symposiums, public art projects and events.
Her work has been shown in over 40 exhibitions, in BC and internationally. Retiring in 2017, Sharon was the Ceramic Artist in Residence at Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology (with 2 pieces now on permanent display in the Koerner Collection of European Ceramics).
linda doherty’s bio
Linda was born in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Her first experience with clay was getting her boots stuck in the gumbo during the spring thaw. She hated mud, so it is ironic that Linda developed a passion for working with clay. Clay captured her like the boot stuck in the gumbo and after 30 years, the rapture continues.
From her first class over 30 years ago and throughout her life as a potter, Linda still finds herself designing pots as she falls asleep each night. She enjoys the physicality of clay and pushing it to its limits. Her eclectic style can be explained by the synergies that evolve from traveling, teaching, creating, exhibiting and having a curious nature.
