artisan
A.R.T.
an "awe-some" experience in training and community building
by Lesley Goddin, Editorial Director and Senior Writer
"When something is so big and so vast and so beautiful, we can’t even believe it. That feeling that can connect us to something bigger than ourselves."
On Friday, June 14, before my flight home from the Artisans Revolution in Tile (A.R.T.) 2024 training at Dragonfly Tile and Stone Works in Milwaukee, Wis., I heard an inspiring meditation by tapping expert Jennifer Ortner on the power of awe. Here’s an excerpt:
“Today we will connect to the power of awe. You know the feeling – when something takes your breath away. When something is so big and so vast and so beautiful, we can’t even believe it. That feeling that can connect us to something bigger than ourselves….”
This meditation was so pertinent because awe perfectly described what transpired during this A.R.T. event. The group of 16 skilled tile setters – which included NTCA Five-Star Contractors and Certified Tile Installers – entered into a journey of creativity, honing existing skills and learning new ones, supporting each other and building an uplifting community that could only be described as “family.”
NTCA and LATICRETE were major sponsors of the training for the second year running, with support from Dal-Tile – which donated all the tile and stone for the hand-shaped mosaic class – as well as TileTools, Gemini Saw Co., DeWalt, Inland Craft, and EMI Mesh Mount Paper and Tape.
Dragonfly’s Jane and Lee Callewaert and Tierra Tile’s Joshua Nordstrom organized the class with essential assistance from Dragonfly’s Maria Meyer, Seth Ready of Ready Set Tile & Mosaic, Hawthorne Tile’s Dirk Sullivan, 2023 A.R.T. veteran-turned-trainer Chris Resti, and LATICRETE’s Jeff Kimmerling.
The A.R.T. altar featuring Dragonfly, Tierra Tile, major sponsor NTCA, and TileLetter ARTISAN magazines, as well as The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin - a gift from LATICRETE’s Ron Nash to each participant.
The objectives
The event set the stage for tile setters to deepen their skills in the realm of creating hand-shaped mosaics with a 107-piece koi pattern. Like last year’s class, the “A.R.T.isans” spent four days learning about art, pricing and marketing from the team that included an inspiring talk about the artist’s path by LATICRETE’s COO and President Ron Nash. Lee and Joshua provided lessons in design, material selection, templating. The group broke into two segments and switched off using wet and ring saws to cut their materials, then took to the shapers, guided by lead instructors and assistants every step of the way, energized by a four-day soundtrack crafted by Seth Ready. On days three and four, lessons in face-taping, pre-mounting, and grouting were shared.
The A.R.T.isans also took part in a community project, and learned about cutting in and inlaying a design. And a phalanx of artisans created a small compass rose mosaic to set into a sidewalk crack outside the St. Kate Art hotel where we all stayed, continuing a tradition that had been started the year before by the inaugural class.
The power of connection
So, those are the nuts and bolts of the class, but the prevailing energy was awe, reverence, and community building. Gianna Vallefuoco, mindfulness coach and co-owner of NTCA Five-Star Contractor Vallefuoco Contractors LLC in Rockville, Md., offered morning “moment to arrive” meditations that set the mood with messages about non-competition, self-compassion and connection. “She grounded the group as a whole and brought us all to the same mindset,” Joshua said.
New this year was a morning “moment to arrive” meditation, led by mindfulness Gianna Vallefuoco, of NTCA Five-Star Vallefuoco Contractors.
Joshua Nordstrom (l.) and Lee Callewaert demonstrated how to create a design using real life objects as inspiration.
Participants themselves were awe-struck in the presence of “celebrities” in the standards-based art of tile – Lee and Joshua – as well as other artisans they only knew from social media posts. A sense of family pervaded the gathering as setters learned new skills.
“Lee and Joshua know firsthand the bond that occurs when you create together,” said Jane Callewaert. “When they first met and worked together on the 2020 Coverings artisan project…it almost felt like a spiritual experience.” Many participants were also awed by their own ability to take in all the information, put it into practice and complete their stunning mosaics.
Solidarity
While the class was unfolding in Milwaukee, OG members of the first class were in solidarity with the newcomers by engaging in “art week” at their own respective locations. Aryk Snowberger, Snowbee Custom Tile in Canton, Ohio, made a mosaic a day, using skills he learned last year and has honed over the course of a year. Jaime Karsky, Meadowlark Tile LLC in Dickinson, N.D., completed a stunning horse mosaic, and in Seattle, Lucas Hendrickson of the Northwestern Artisan Tile Company got to work on another koi mosaic.
Other first-year students supported the new class in other ways. Local first year students Mike and Tom Kavajecz of Kavajecz Tile and Stone stopped by to visit and help clean the shop at the end of the day, as did Trevor Hook of Hooked on Tile in Evansville, Wis., and Tony Kavanagh of Flooring Concepts, LLC in Wauwatosa.
Other visitors came by for an afternoon or evening. Matt Felton swung by the shop and joined in the LATICRETE-sponsored dinner Tuesday night at Ward’s House of Prime; Blanke’s Markus Dworowy of Blanke drove over from Chicago to pay a visit, NTCA Assistant Executive Director Jim Olson and wife Mary Shaw-Olson TileLetter Advertising Sales Rep, drove from Minneapolis on Wednesday afternoon. Dal-Tile’s Regional Vice President Hilary Frank presided at the Dal-Tile-sponsored dinner Wednesday night and stopped by the shop the next day to marvel at how the company’s donated materials were being fashioned into beautiful works of art. Local supporter - and donor of a wet saw – Mark LaPierre also came by. And Mike Bernal of Tile Tools was a consistent presence, sponsoring a first night pizza reception at the St. Kate for the class.
Marketing, promotion and standards
Wednesday LATICRETE’s Manager, Digital Marketing Sharon LaRiviere and I gave an impromptu lunch talk about ways new artisans can boost their presence online and in print, and even how to begin a file at the Tile Heritage Foundation archives for posterity (see related story in this issue). The two of us were stunned during the closing ceremonies when it was revealed that the gorgeous butterfly wing mosaics the group had worked on as a community project were actually gifts of appreciation for OUR contributions to the program. We also both got a taste for what class participants were experiencing by creating our own mosaics during the class.
Assistant Trainer Maria Meyer works on the community project of pair of butterfly wing mosaics that were presented to LATICRETE’s Sharon La Riviere and NTCA’s TileLetter Editor Lesley Goddin for their support of the movement.
The legendary Dave Gobis joined with NTCA Five-Star Contractors Dirk Sullivan of Hawthorne Tile and Jan Hohn of Hohn & Hohn, Inc. to talk about standards and industry issues during a lunchtime panel, moderated by organizer extraordinaire Jane Callewaert.
Thursday afternoon industry legend Dave Gobis joined an informal panel during lunch that included NTCA Five-Star Contractors Dirk Sullivan of Hawthorne Tile and Jan Hohn of Hohn and Hohn Inc. to talk about industry standards and other related issues.
Another essential supporter honored during the closing ceremonies was local LATICRETE rep Jeff Kimmerling, who helped in a myriad of ways each day.
Participants described the class as “mind-blowing,” “almost-spiritual,” and “very relevant,” while proudly proclaiming their identities as “artists.” They were eager for the next steps in the artisan tile movement and the class.
Artisans had an additional lesson on the last day on cutting in an inlay design.
“The industry needs this,” Lee and Jane shared. “It is so enlightening to hear and see the new energy that participants have for their chosen life’s work and the amazing relationships made. The tile artisan ‘community’ is a beautiful thing!”
“I think we all figured that there would be a bond built but not on the level that we have experienced,” Joshua added. “That just kinda organically happens when like-minded people share a special experience I guess. Still giving me the goosebumps, just thinking about this.”
The artisans returned home from this life-changing experience with new skills and new friendships to support their continued learning and growth as they weave what they learned in both their day-to-day work, and in creating signature art pieces for clients. Join the Tile Trade Artisans Guild on Facebook to get more information about the artisan movement and watch A.R.T. 2024 attendees describe the experience in their own words.
Training and A.R.T.23 veteran Chris Resti assists Michael Sandell of Michael’s Tile & Stone Installation as he face tapes his mosaic.
Sixteen artisans completed the A.R.T. class in Milwaukee in June, adding a new chapter to the growing artisan tile movement.
Artisans everywhere: putting training into practice
In April and May, a small but enthusiastic group of Artisans Revolution in Tile (A.R.T.) 2023 graduates took the message of the A.R.T. movement to heart and ran with it – all the way to Coverings in Atlanta and to TileFest at The Moravian Pottery and TileWorks (aka The TileWorks of Bucks County) in Doylestown.
At Coverings in April, 2023 A.R.T. veteran Chris Resti of Crest Tile and Mosaic, Inc., Hilton, N.Y., and Maria Meyer, Dragonfly Assistant Trainer for the A.R.T. class moderated a panel discussion with Matt Blood of Paragon Tile Installation, Cumberland, R.I., Aryk Snowberger of Snowbee Custom Tile, Canton, Ohio; Josh Vassallo, Vassallo Tile & Stone, Wimberley, Texas; Chris Osterritter of Art by Tile in Wilmerding, Pa.; and Trevor Hook, of Hooked on Tile, Evansville, Wis. The panel related their experience at the first A.R.T. class and shared how they are incorporating those lessons into their day-to-day work.
A group of Artisan Revolution in Tile (A.R.T.) program graduates gave a presentation about their A.R.T. experience at Coverings in April, to spread the word about the growth and benefits of the artisan movement. (L to r): Chris Resti, Matt Blood, Josh Vassallo, Trevor Hook, Chris Osterritter, Aryk Snowberger and Maria Meyer.
The next month, at TileFest, Snowberger, Osterritter and his son Mason, Blood, and Resti – assisted by A.R.T. Assistant Trainer and tile artisan Seth Ready of Ready Set Tile & Mosaic in Broomfield, Colo. – used cutting and shaping equipment to create Mercer-inspired mosaics and show attendees new levels of what can be achieved in tile setting.
Some of the group also took part in a discussion between TileWorks installation specialists Jesse Pham and John Morrell, TileWorks Executive Director Katia McGuirk, CTEF’s Brad Denny and NTCA Technical Committee Member Jan Hohn of Hohn & Hohn, Inc., to lay the groundwork for a guidebook on the installation of handmade tile that Hohn is developing.
At TileFest in May, some of the A.R.T.isans gave live demos of cutting and shaping mosaics. (L. to r.) : Matt Blood, Seth Ready, Chris Osterritter (and son Mason, not pictured), Aryk Snowberger and Chris Resti.
A.R.T.isans Chris Osterritter and Matt Blood join with Jan Hohn, CTEF’s Brad Denny, TileWorks Executive Director Katia McGuirk, TileWorks Installation experts John Morrell and Jesse Pham to discuss the development of a handmade tile installation guidebook Hohn is working on.
The artisan presence added to the success of TileFest - co-sponsored by the TileWorks and Tile Heritage Foundation – which featured almost double the exhibitors from last year – around 50 – and twice the attendees as well, nearly 2,000. Growth is largely due to McGuirk’s creative vision and outreach, and the dedicated makers of handmade tile and related items that exhibited at the event. Tile enthusiasts and the tile curious enjoy tours of The TileWorks, a working tile factory and nearby Fonthill, the home of Henry Chapman Mercer, who built both his home and the Moravian Pottery and TileWorks, and various interactive activities. The next one is scheduled for May 17-18, 2025. Visit thetileworks.org for more information.
TileFest co-sponsors Sheila Menzies and Joseph Taylor of The Tile Heritage Foundation.
A sampling of stunning handmade tiles seen at TileFest include P2 Ware cuerda seca technique, colorful creations from Robin Sue Miller, One Acre Ceramics, Maltese’s Pieces, Three Brooks Pottery, lace tile from Theresa Mustafa.