Heat Work

Episode 8: Legacies: Bang On, John Neely Part 2

Alex Slydel, Antra Sinha, Aubrey Sloan, Careen Stoll, Mandy Stigant, Tara Wilson — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 09:31:00 +0000

Antra (she/her), Careen (she/they), and Mandy (she/they) continue their conversation with John Neely, recorded in Fall 2023. John passed away suddenly in June 2025. Midroll from Careen remembering her best critique with John.

Thanks to Julie at Elaborate Flight of Fancy for our logo, and to Joshua Clausen for our music. They are both findable on Facebook, and Joshua is also on Soundcloud.

Episode 7: Legacies: Sondering John Neely, Pt 1

Alex Slydel, Antra Sinha, Aubrey Sloan, Careen Stoll, Mandy Stigant, Tara Wilson — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 00:19:00 +0000

Antra (she/her), Careen (she/they), and Mandy (she/her) interview John Neely (he/him) about his life, learning, experience, mentors and inherited legacies, and how he began and shaped the ceramics program at Utah State University. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Midroll about in-person visits to prospective graduate programs.

Thanks to Julie at Elaborate Flight of Fancy for our logo, and to Joshua Clausen for our music. They are both findable on Facebook, and Joshua is also on Soundcloud.

Episode 6: A Lasting Impact

Alex Slydel, Antra Sinha, Aubrey Sloan, Careen Stoll, Mandy Stigant, Tara Wilson — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 02:23:00 +0000

Alex (they/them), Aubrey (she/her) and Mandy (she/her) speak with guests Twig (he/him), Chey (she/they), and Tomi (he/him), about the lasting impacts of QueerCat and how it has changed both lives and futures. Midroll is an opportunistic tech deviation about epsom salts and how to use them to reconstitute a glaze.

Handles and links:

@studio_tomi

@quite_chey

@twiggy.world

@coffeemothcreative

@vibrantpottery

@mandystigantceramics

https://tyandchey.com/

https://www.coffeemothcreative.com/theartist

https://oregonpotters.org/Sys/PublicProfile/63408684

https://oregonpotters.org/Sys/PublicProfile/43497048

https://www.studiotomi.co/

https://www.mandystigantceramics.com/

Episode 5: The Art of Abundance

Alex Slydel, Antra Sinha, Aubrey Sloan, Careen Stoll, Mandy Stigant, Tara Wilson — Sun, 08 Oct 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Alex, Aubrey, and Mandy, with returning guests Twig and Mindi, continue discussing the QueerCat 2023 firing event at East Creek Art, with a focus on the firing itself, the atmosphere, mentorship and what it means to lead with service, and the relationship between generosity and abundance.

Midroll of thank yous to everyone who made QueerCat possible and successful: Clay Art Center of Tacoma, Georgie’s Ceramic & Clay, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Oregon Arts Commission, East Creek Art, Joe Robinson, Our GoFundMe donors, Morning Ceramics, Daffodill Studio, Ty & Chey, Nick Kesler, Vicki Martin, Benjamin Cahoon, Our Firing Co-Leads, volunteers, and participants, we couldn’t thank you enough for your time, dedication, clay, food, kilns, space, love, and so much more.

https://www.eastcreekart.org/

https://clayartcenter.net/

https://racc.org/

https://www.oregonartscommission.org/

https://www.morningceramics.com/

https://daffodillstudios.com/

https://tyandchey.com/

Episode 4: A Queer Hope

Alex Slydel, Antra Sinha, Aubrey Sloan, Careen Stoll, Mandy Stigant, Tara Wilson — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Special guests Twig Cosby (he/him) and Arminda Gandara (she/her) join hosts Alex Slydel (they/them), Aubrey Sloan (she/her) and Mandy Stigant (she/her) to talk about the thought, planning, and front-end work that went into organizing QueerCat 2023, an all LGBTQIA+ firing that happened May-June 2023 at East Creek Art in Willamina, Oregon. Midroll about contributors and grant providers and a vocab briefing.

QueerCat was funded and made possible by: Clay Art Center of Tacoma, Georgie’s Ceramic & Clay, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Oregon Arts Commission, East Creek Art, Joe Robinson, Our GoFundMe donors, Morning Ceramics, Daffodill Studio, Ty & Chey, Nick Kesler, Vicki Martin, Benjamin Cahoon, Our Firing Co-Leads, volunteers, and participants.

https://www.eastcreekart.org/

https://clayartcenter.net/

https://racc.org/

https://www.oregonartscommission.org/

https://www.morningceramics.com/

https://daffodillstudios.com/

https://tyandchey.com/

Episode 3: All the Queer Cats in Oregon and Utah

Alex Slydel, Antra Sinha, Aubrey Sloan, Careen Stoll, Mandy Stigant, Tara Wilson — Sun, 14 May 2023 01:00:00 +0000

Alex (they/them), Antra (she/her), and Aubrey (she/her) discuss East Creek Art, the upcoming QueerCat firing event happening at East Creek Art, and the culture and pedagogy surrounding the Utah State University woodfire program. Midroll detailing contributors to the QueerCat firing and an upcoming article in Oregon Business Magazine, along with some terms that come up in the episode.

Tokenism: the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to be inclusive to members of minority groups, especially by recruiting people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of racial or gender equality within a workplace or educational context.

Virtue Signaling: an attempt to show other people that you are a good person, for example by expressing opinions that will be acceptable to them, especially on social media. It is indicating that one has virtue merely by expressing disgust or favour for certain political ideas or cultural happenings.

Find us on Instagram for updates and announcements: @heatworkpodcast

Also please email thoughts, feedback and news to heatworkpodcast@gmail.com

New England Woodfire Conference: newenglandwfc.com

Carrots & Suffering Podcast: carrotsandsuffering.com

QueerCat firing is fully funded thanks to RACC (Regional Arts and Culture Council), Oregon Arts Commission, Georgies Ceramic and Clay Company, Clay Art Center Tacoma, and individual donors via GoFundMe. Thank you!

Episode 2: Where We've Been and Where We Are

Alex Slydel, Antra Sinha, Aubrey Sloan, Careen Stoll, Mandy Stigant, Tara Wilson — Mon, 01 May 2023 06:47:00 +0000

Careen (she/they), Mandy (she/her), and Tara (she/her) talk about past and present efforts in their woodfire pursuits. Tara discusses her assistantship program and @womenwhowoodfire on Instagram. Careen talks about their ambitious permaculture land development. Mandy and Careen talk about 2019's Firing While Female at East Creek. Midroll unpacking comments made during the episode, surrounding generational stereotypes and cultural bias that results from a predominantly Eurocentric perspective on history.

Indigenous Peoples of Oregon include Cowlitz, Multnomah, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Chelmela, Winefelly, Kalapuya, Nez Perce, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Confederated Tribes of Siletz, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, The Klamath, Burns Paiute, Coquille, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, Confederated Tribes of Siletz, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw.

Indigenous Peoples of Montana include Blackfeet, Crow, Cheyenne, Salish & Kootenai, Shoshone-Bannock, and Kalispel Nations.

Questions and comments? Please email us at heatworkpodcast@gmail.com

Episode 1: Introductions: Who What and Why

Alex Slydel, Antra Sinha, Aubrey Sloan, Careen Stoll, Mandy Stigant, Tara Wilson — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 06:44:00 +0000

An introduction of hosts, the podcast and the purpose. Midroll detailing terms and acronyms used in the episode.

Questions and comments? Please email us at heatworkpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode you will hear mentioned:

AAPI stands for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

BIPOC stands for Black and Indigenous People of Color

DEI is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and more.

Queer is a short-hand term for LGBTQIA+, and also the Q in the longer acronym.

Trans is a term used to describe someone whose gender does not align with the one they were assigned at birth.

Intersectionality is the way people’s social identities can overlap. It is an understanding that all inequality is not created equal. Intersectionality is a lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other.