Pond Farm Pottery Artist in Residence: Asmara Beraki

A stylized illustration of Asmara Beraki, who has dark blue, wavy hair adorned with twinkling lights. She is wearing a white jacket with a geometric star pattern on the chest. Asmara is in an art studio with two large windows open with a view that depicts a vivid space scene, with a planet, rings, a black hole, and a colorful mountain landscape. An easel stands to the left of the window on the right side of the frame.
A stylized illustration of Asmara Beraki.

Pond Farm Pottery welcomed its July Artist in Residence, Asmara Beraki. Asmara is primarily a filmmaker, but also writes poetry and articles, quilts, and engages in a visual art practice (collage, drawing, and painting), is an entrepreneur, and university lecturer whose creative work has received international accolades and has been screened at festivals worldwide. She is also a native of San Francisco and a resident of Sonoma County.

An event poster for a workshop titled "Discover Your Inner Artist and Make Your Own Cinema" with Pond Farm Artist in Residence, Asmara Beraki. The poster also includes information such as the location (Guerneville Library), and time and date for the event (Monday, July 22, from 4-6 PM). The poster features a collage-style design with various elements, including blue, crumpled paper, torn pieces of newspaper text scattered across the poster, images of fish, a goat, a chicken, an orange slice positioned around the text, an image of a woman in vintage clothing painting on an easel in the bottom right corner, and the logos of Pond Farm Pottery, Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods, River Arts, Arts in California Parks, and California State Parks at the bottom.
A flyer with information about Pond Farm Pottery’s July Artist in Residence event on July 22, 2024.

For her workshop event, Asmara screened her series of short films called Quotidian Cinematics followed by an interactive question and answer session and a workshop on how to make creative short films using only a phone or laptop computer. Quotidian Cinematics included inspiring and creative short films and stories related to Asmara’s personal experience as an artist, including her family ties to Ruth Asawa, Albert Lanier, and Pond Farm Pottery itself where her grandparents contributed to art, culture, and community.

A group of people sit in a dimly lit room, watching a film projected on a screen at the front. The room has a high, beamed ceiling and is decorated with various artworks on the walls. A "Black Lives Matter" sign is visible above the screen.
Attendees watch a film by Pond Farm Pottery’s July Artist in Residence, Asmara Beraki, in a room at the Guerneville Regional Library on July 22, 2024. Photo by Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods.

Close to 20 participated in the event, which as held at the Guerneville Regional Library, which was a perfect setting for this creative engagement.