May is a particularly wonderful month. Marking the beginning of warm weather in the Northern Hemisphere, nature is in bloom, the school year is concluding for many, sports fans enjoy playoffs and finals, and holidays like Mother's Day, Memorial Day, and Cinco de Mayo are just a few of the reasons why some consider May to be a great month. For Studio Potter, May 1st signifies the opening of our Grants for Apprenticeship Program (GAP). In especially exciting news, our GAP award has increased to $15,000 for each of the five recipients. This award is important to artists because it provides financial support, recognition, validation, professional development, non-traditional academic opportunities, access to new audiences, and the freedom and flexibility to pursue a creative vision.

The Studio Potter GAP award is designed to serve the most impactful application of need. Though Studio Potter invites an independent jury and I play no part in the decision process, for me, "impactful applications" means encouraging mentorship teams that look at the balance between "to do" and "to affect." Training is learning to do, and intelligence is learning to affect. For me, this means exciting the imagination and helping apprentices understand the applicable and impactful value of their training. It means leading out of a person, not his/her/their inherent ability to do something – that's training – but their capacity to respond to something so as to know the value it has for themselves and their community.

By thinking about our craft in terms of "to do" and "to affect," we appeal to the best in our creative pursuits, encouraging everyone to apply those successes to impactful work; this is also the heart of this month's articles. Studio Potter presents to you three unique but thematic articles. In this month's FREE article, Robyn Phelan features one vein of Vipoo Srivilasa's ceramic practice and the altruistic motivations behind what she would broadly describe as a socially engaged art practice in "A Practice with Positivity." The emerging writer Steven Kin reviews the Clay Art Center's (CAC - Port Chester, NY) exhibition "Homage to Henry" and outlines Henry's work ethic and mission to create a diverse and inclusive space at the CAC. In a narrative article, Delvin Goode reflects on the juxtaposition of his career in the military and a life "Unexpectedly Full of Art." Studio Potter also presents a book review by Christopher Bieniek of Wild Clay: Creating Ceramics and Glazes from Natural and Found Resources.

I welcome you to read this month's thematic articles on "impactful work," and Studio Potter welcomes you to APPLY to the Grants for Apprenticeship Program. The application cycle is open from May 1st through June 1st, 2023. This year, five separate teams will each be awarded a total amount of $15,000.

Randi O'Brien, editor