A creative vision realized: The journey of visual artist Rebecca Potts

For Rebecca Potts (High School Visual Arts ‘94), the seeds of her successful art career were planted in an unexpected place: a high school visit that would change her future. In the summer of 1991, Potts visited a friend in the School of Drama at UNCSA and felt an immediate connection. Captivated by the campus and the vibrant creative environment, Potts knew she had to return the following summer — but this time as a Visual Arts student.  

Determined to turn her passion into a reality, Potts set her sights on being accepted into the full Visual Arts program for her junior and senior years of high school. She began focusing fully on her art and by the end of the school year, her hard work paid off — she had earned her spot in the program. 

An extraordinary experience

Potts recalls one morning early in her time at UNCSA. “One of my favorite moments was walking into the building where the academics were held, which at the time was new and fancy,” she remembers. “It was early in the morning and I could hear someone practicing on the organ. I couldn’t see the player, or even the organ. It was just me alone with this disembodied music, waiting for an elevator. It just set the tone for focus and importance in the day and confirmed my suspicion: this place was not ordinary, and I, by extension, was extraordinary.”  

This place was not ordinary, and I, by extension, was extraordinary.

Rebecca Potts

Though she loved all her classes, Potts found a home in 3D media, which she continued to study at UNC Greensboro and the Cranbrook Academy of Art, earning a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Sculpture. Today, she is an accomplished visual artist living in Brooklyn. She credits her UNCSA training with instilling the dedication and discipline that continues to shape her career.  

Returning to her roots

Potts recently completed an artist residency at Greenwich House Pottery in New York City that concluded with the group exhibition “Ceramics Now” in the Jane Hartsook Gallery. The residency felt significant to her, as it marked a return to experimentation in ceramics.

Working in clay again, she was reminded of her time in the studio with Design & Production Emeritus Faculty member Martha Dunnigan. “Martha was sly and gentle in her method, but absolutely held us all in her thrall,” Potts says. “I hear her in my ear in the studio whispering, ‘clay has a memory,’ a phrase anyone who works with clay has heard a million times, but I swear to you she said it first. Well, she said it to me first.” 

A conversation with Rebecca Potts

In a recent conversation with the Alumni Engagement team, Potts shared more about her UNCSA training, life as a full-time artist, and what advice she has for today’s young creatives. 

How do you apply what you learned at UNCSA in your career? 

I think for a lot of us in the Visual Arts program, the time and intensity asked of us were a shock at first. We hadn’t developed any sort of rigor to our practice like athletes or musicians. Most of us were misfits that hung out drawing in our rooms to escape. Suddenly we were expected to take technique quite seriously and we were terrified of letting down these adults who actually saw potential in us.

We took our work seriously. That’s not to say we didn’t do silly or goofy things; we were in high school and living in dorms! I can remember using my shower caddy to rig a system with a rope and pulley to hang a piece out my dorm window so I could spray paint it at 11 p.m. — it was after curfew, but I needed the piece to be properly finished. I’d say my commitment and consistency in a studio practice started at UNCSA. 

What are some challenges you've encountered in your career and how have you overcome them? 

Managing the ebbs and flows that come in creative fields is key. The highs are amazing; showing work, selling work, recognition. But staying consistent and present in the lulls can be challenging. As a sculptor, I work alone and I am only accountable to myself. You have to just show up every day and do the work. And there are days that are terrible, there are days you rip up everything you did and throw it out, there are days when you are sure no one is looking or no one cares. The challenge is not to quit, and to make the art because you have to make art, not because you seek accolades or financial remuneration. Make it because it is what you do. 

What have been the highlights or most significant moments of your career so far? 

I was fortunate enough to realize a dream. Since I became aware of him and his gallery in the late 90s, I hoped to show work with Hudson (he went by just one name) at Feature, Inc. I was included in a couple of shows there in the years before he passed away in 2014. There’s a book about him that came out recently. He was a remarkable human.   

What do you see as the future of your industry and do you have any advice as to how current students might prepare for that? 

There are more ways to succeed as an artist than you can imagine. Just out of school, you may think you know how you’d like the future to unfold, or what a successful career looks like. But there are so many interesting and fulfilling ways to work as an artist, and so many opportunities that can come out of seemingly unrelated fields and collaborations with others.

There are more ways to succeed as an artist than you can imagine.

Rebecca Potts

Being open is a huge bonus, and I wish I’d been more so in my 20s. In my 30s and 40s, I’ve tried many new things, ways of working in the studio and working in the mundane/material world. It keeps things exciting; it feeds the work, it keeps you young. 

To learn more about Rebecca Potts and her incredible work, visit her website at rebeccapotts.net.

By Sarah Kelly

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