Clayarch Gimhae Residency Diary – Artist-in-Residence Experience in Korea

In July 2025, I was honored to join the artist-in-residence exchange program between Clayarch Gimhae Museum in Korea and Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taiwan. This incredible opportunity allows me to spend two months in Gimhae, alongside another experienced jewelry artist from Taiwan.

Gimhae Craft Creation Center

Clayarch Gimhae Museum is dedicated to exploring the intersection of clay and architecture, combining ceramic arts with architectural concepts. The museum complex consists of 3–4 buildings, and our residency center is located in the Gimhae Craft Creation Center, one of the main buildings within the museum grounds. The facilities here are truly impressive — spacious and thoughtfully designed for artists to live and create.

Clayarch Gimhae Museum

The residential area is on the third floor, with private rooms featuring large floor-to-ceiling windows and private bathrooms. A beautiful shared kitchen and laundry facilities create a warm, communal atmosphere. Our studio is on the first floor, accommodating 10–12 artists at a time. There’s also a large kiln room, an outdoor wood-fired kiln, and a well-stocked materials storage room. On the second floor, a 3D printing and plaster mold studio is available for artists exploring different techniques.

The studio space

The kiln room

The outdoor wood-fired kiln

Unfortunately, they have discontinued their previous international artist residency program, and now only the exchange program with the Yingge Ceramics Museum remains. At this stage, all other studio space applications are only open to local artists. I hope they will reopen it to international artists in the future.

Some of my new projects

Clayarch is situated in a quiet, small town. It takes about 5–10 minutes on foot to reach the local supermarket, with a few cafes and convenience stores nearby. I’ve now been here for three weeks, spending my days cooking, experimenting with clay, and working on new projects. Since taking the bus to downtown Gimhae requires almost an hour, I usually head into the city only once or twice a week.

Gimhae itself is fascinating — a city with deep ceramic traditions and a rich cultural background. I plan to write a separate blog post about exploring Gimhae, its ceramic history, and the places worth visiting.

This residency at Clayarch Gimhae Museum has been an inspiring journey, and I look forward to sharing more of my works and stories here!

About Gimhae Craft Creation Center: https://gccc.ghct.or.kr/home/main