Q&A
Annette Roberts- Gray, a Glenwood Springs potter, has been working with clay since the early 1970s. But in the spring of 2005, with deaths mounting in the Iraq War, she decided to turn her ceramics skills from functional mugs and bowls to something commemorating the deaths of U.S. soldiers.
She has now gone through a ton of clay and made 800 white vases. She plans to give them to the soldiers’ families. In the meantime, half of her vases are on display at Denver International Airport through January. For more information on the vases, contact Roberts-Gray at memorialvases@hotmail.com
Q: Why did you decide to take on this monumental task in clay?
A: The whole idea came out of a piece I did for a show. I made one tall vase surrounded by nine smaller vases. I did that piece after I read that for every soldier killed in Iraq nine are wounded. I started thinking it would be a nice gesture to make a vase for every soldier killed. I guess it just felt right for me to do at the time. So I ordered a ton of clay thinking it would be enough. The number of dead then was 1,493.
Q: Will you continue to make the vases now that the number has risen to more than 2,500?
A: I would like to make 1,000 before I stop. I know now I can’t make them all, but I would like to keep doing them for the soldiers’ families who ask for them. A lot of my pottery friends thought I was going to be very bored making the same piece over and over again. But it has been kind of comforting.
Q: Can you describe the vases?
A: As I work on each one I have a soldier in mind. Each one has been thrown by hand. They are 5 inches tall and made of translucent porcelain with a clear glaze. The names, the branches of service and the insignia of those branches are stamped on each one along with the date the soldiers were killed and their ages. I altered them so they are slightly oval. The men have pointed jug handles and the women’s have curved handles. To me they are figurative.
– Nancy Lofholm, Denver Post staff writer
REGIONAL NOTES
DURANGO
Run/walk for mammogram funds
The 12th annual Journey of Hope 5K Family Run/Walk gets under way at 9 a.m. Saturday at Fort Lewis College near the softball fields and playground to honor lives touched by breast cancer. Proceeds from the event, sponsored by Vectra Bank and Animas Events, go to a fund administered by the Mercy Health Foundation to provide mammograms for women in the community who could not otherwise afford them.
The entry fee is $18 for adults. Children under 12 can participate for free. Pre-registration is encouraged. Applications can be obtained at the Women’s Resource Center or by visiting the Durango Motorless Transit website, www.go-dmt.org. For more information on the event, call 970-247-3108 evenings.
BOULDER, COLORADO SPRINGS
Budding scientists head for D.C.
Two Colorado kids are finalists in the national Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, a science fair for students in grades five through eight. Radhika Rawat of Boulder and Aarthi Shankar of Colorado Springs will receive all-expense-paid trips to Washington, D.C., next month for the competition finals, according to Science Service, science fair sponsor.
Rawat, of Summit Middle School in Boulder, submitted a project called “Got Vitamins?” in the competition, and Shankar, of Mountain Ridge Middle School in Colorado Springs, is competing with “Dirty Laundry Secrets.”
GOLDEN
Women Marines raising funds
The Women Marines Association will host a 5K run/walk at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Jefferson County Courts and Administration Facility. The run aims to raise money to support the U.S. Marine Memorial in Golden and the Women Marines Association Museum in Castle Rock.
Registration is $20. Register online at www.colorado1womenmarines.org, or by sending a check to WMA, 3066 S. Grandby St., Aurora, CO. 80014.
