Josh Novak

In 1990, Omaha Nebraska played host as ceramic artist Josh Novak entered the world. The middle child of three boys, he would revel at the cartoon drawings of his older brother, Josh began replicating and shortly after, creating his own drawings.    

Graduating from Doane College with a BA in Art with a Professional Emphasis in 2012 and an MFA from Fort Hays State University in 2016 Josh seeks to inform and inspire the next generation at the collegiate level. It is his life’s goal to use his ceramic artwork to question and attempt to answer the obsessive actions and behaviors of not only American culture, but the world in which we live in.

Using this part of his childhood as fuel rather than a hindrance, Josh exercised these experiences in the gym. The development of his body through exercise and his past drove this fascination with human anatomy and with his current figurative work today. It wasn’t until a chance encounter with clay again in college that Josh recognized his calling. Having gained a scholarship for athletics, he would sneak into the ceramics lab before practice and work.    

Josh has exhibited in regional, national, and international exhibitions. Seeking to voice his experiences to a national audience of his peers, Josh gave a lecture titled “The Illusion of Talent: How to Build Skill in Clay” at the 2015 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference (NCECA) in Providence, RI.  After a brief appointment as an Adjunct at his alma mater, Josh decided to take a new venture across the globe in Amman, Jordan. Josh lived and worked in the Middle East for 2.5 years. There he taught numerous ceramic workshops, worked at ceramic art centers, and exhibited his work. The culmination of the trip was a solo show at the Daghlise Gallery in Amman. Following his stay in Amman, Josh was brought back to Neosho, MO in the USA for a position at Crowder College as head of Ceramics and 3D Design as well as the Museum Curator position. Josh seeks to educate and inspire the next generation of creatives through his own personal experiences as an artist and educator.      

He uses these events throughout his career and life to mold who he is today. Never taking for granted the relationships that are important to him as well as remaining committed to his career as a ceramic artist.