ABOUT
Photography by Madison Kirkman
BIOgraphy
Anika Major is a Texas-born ceramic artist living in Seattle, Washington. She graduated from the University of North Texas, and received her BFA in ceramics and painting. She moved to Seattle in 2018, now teaching clay classes and managing operations at Rain City Clay. Anika maintains a full-time studio practice in Georgetown, creating functional pottery that blends her passion for clay with figure painting. Her wheel-thrown and handbuilt pieces are characterized by their human body-inspired shapes and vivid, expressive surfaces. Anika’s narratives of romance and queer domestic comforts are informed by her affinity for the pageantry of the rodeo, and the symbolism of the glamorous and feminine cowgirl.
Click to view a full list of exhibitions, professional experience, and more.
I acknowledge that I am on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe. I am a guest on this land in my home and my art practice, and I participate in paying Real Rent.
Updated August 2025
CV
EDUCATION
2018 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Ceramics, Drawing and Painting, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2018 Santa Reparata International School of Art, Summer Study Abroad, Florence, Italy
Professional Experience
2024 Short-Term Artist in Residence, August-September, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
2022 - Present Studio Manager, Rain City Clay, Seattle, WA
2022 - Present Instructor, Rain City Clay, Seattle, WA
2019 - 2024 Instructor, Moshier Community Art Center, Burien, WA
2021 - 2022 Instructor, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA
2021 Instructor, Pottery Northwest, Seattle, WA
2020 - 2022 Studio Manager, Rat City Studios, Seattle, WA
2019 - 2022 Instructor, Rat City Studios, Seattle, WA
2019 Studio Assistant, Penland School of Crafts, Workshop: Tricks of the Trade with Deborah Schwarzkopf, Bakersville, NC
2018 - 2022 Studio Assistant to Deborah Schwartzkopf, Rat City Studios, Seattle, WA
2017 - 2018 Studio Assistant, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Lectures/Workshops
2025 Thrown and Transformed: Wheel Forms and Surface Play Workshop, Rain City Clay, Seattle, WA
2024 Artist Talk and Wheel Thrown and Altered Bottles Workshop, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2023 Handbuilt Boxes with Surface Decoration, Clay By The Bay, San Francisco, CA
Working with Underglaze, Virtual Workshop, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
2022 Figure Painting with Underglaze, Virtual Workshop, Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft, Columbia, NC
2021 Virtual Artist Talk with UNT Clay Guild, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Cup Curious, Virtual Workshop, Seattle, WA
2020 Painting On Clay, Virtual Workshop, Seattle, WA
2019 Whatcom Community College, Bellingham, WA
Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Bellevue, WA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
2024 In Tandem Gallery, Bakersville, NC
2023 Good Earth Pottery, Bellingham, WA
2022 Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Selected Exhibitions
2025 Material Mugs X, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Ewer Invitational, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Last Call X, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Sodaliciousness, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
2024 15th Simple Cup Show, Kobo Gallery, Seattle, WA
Too Hot To Handle, Curated by Grace Stott, SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC
4th Annual 406 Cup Show, Wildfire Ceramic Studio, Missoula, MT
Material Mugs IX, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
4th Impostors Cup Show, Online Exhibition, Organized by Bryan Wilkerson
The Functional Canvas IX, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Last Call IX, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Above Board Ceramics Tableware Exhibition, Richmond Coalition Theatre, Richmond, VA
Figuratively Speaking II, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Cup Show, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS
2023 Holiday Show, Rain City Clay, Seattle, WA
Material Mugs VIII, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Last Call VIII, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Above Board Ceramics 3rd Annual Exhibition, Online Exhibition
2023 Last Call VIII, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Above Board Ceramics 3rd Annual Exhibition, Online Exhibition
2022 Depicted in the Mud, Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Sewickley, PA
Margarita Cup Invitational, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
tender / queer, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
Say Something: Tactile Voices in Clay, Saratoga Clay Arts Center, Schuylerville, NY
Surface, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
3rd Annual Spring Exhibition, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Last Call VII, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Introductions, Brace Point Pottery, Seattle, WA
2021 Rat City Studios Community Show, Good Earth Pottery, Bellingham, WA
Sarah’s Spirit Squad, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA
2020 Gifted: From the HeART, LUX Center For the Arts, Lincoln, NE
Cup: The Intimate Object XVI, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Making Life Sweeter, Rat City Studios, Online Exhibition
Rat City Studios 3rd Annual Community Cup Showcase, Dubsea Coffee, Seattle, WA
Queer and Dear, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA
Rat City Studios Shakedown: Vases, Online Exhibition
Mug Madness 2020, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA, Judge: Chanakarn Semachai and Adrienne Eliades
Dirty South Cup Call, River Oaks Square Arts Center, Alexandria, LA*
2019 Queer and Dear, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA
Rat City Studios: Plates and Platters, Proletariat Pizza, Seattle, WA
Rat City Studios: Community Cup Showcase, Dubsea Coffee, Seattle, WA
Rat City Studios Shakedown: Citrus, Online Exhibition
2018 Community Cup Showcase, Dubsea Coffee, Seattle, WA
SRISA Student Show, Santa Reparata International School of Art, Florence, Italy
2% Bentonite, Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Like, Seven Years, Lightwell Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, Solo Exhibition
Drawing and Painting Senior Invitational, Lightwell Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2017 Clay Guild Expo, Union Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Persona, Corporate Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Function, Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Singlefare 4, Highline Stages, New York, NY
Hot and Sweaty, 500x Gallery, Dallas, TX
Good Libations, Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2016 Rhizome, Brickhaus Gallery, Denton, TX
Junior Invitational Showcase, Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2015 Core Drawing Show, Lightwell Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Art Beyond Sight, Student Collaborative Project, Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX
2014 San Antonio Collegiate Student Exhibition, San Antonio Art League Museum, San Antonio, TX