The Jackson County Green Energy Park will host a reception at its art gallery from 5-7 p.m. Aug. 23 for Western Carolina University alumnus and ceramist Preston Tolbert.

The event is free and open to the public.

“When I work with wet clay, I like to explore the nature of movement. The clay resists and reacts to my hands, recording every touch, rip, and cut. I like to make a new clean form, then attack it to give it age and depth,” said Tolbert.

Tolbert was raised in Statesville. He graduated from Western Carolina University with a degree in Fine Arts/Ceramics in 2007 and apprenticed with Don Reitz in Arizona for two years. He currently lives and has a pottery shop in downtown Old Fort.

The Jackson County Green Energy Park is an award winning, community-scale landfill gas project located in Dillsboro.

www.facebook.com/JCGEP or www.jcgep.org/ or 828.631.0271.