The Common Table, 2018

​The Common Table brought together a group of twenty-two women who share the physical space on the Wesleyan College campus in Macon, Georgia. The project aimed to encourage a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff to build community through a series of events and a shared meal that took place on handmade dishes within the gallery. This book includes the portraits and personal essays written by the twenty-two women who participated in The Common Table, along with documentation of the meal and exhibition. 
​You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon.

Ceramics Monthly, Pac-Man Sponge, 2018

I saw my first cut sponge in a friend’s kitchen next to their sink. The sponge was cut and propped up vertically, which allowed it to dry evenly. I thought about all of my students’ lost sponges and the countless sponge parts that I had found when cleaning out the pug mill. Soon after, I started cutting my throwing sponge so that I could place it over the rim of my throwing bucket to keep it from getting lost in the slop.

Social Objects, 2017
by the Socially Engaged Craft Collective and Friends 
What power do objects carry in our lives? How do they influence our everyday experiences, create connection or encourage resistance? Throughout the trajectory of human history, we have used objects to contain meaning and to build relationships. In Social Objects, members of the Socially Engaged Craft Collective and guest contributors investigate Socially Engaged Craft practice through essays, interviews, project descriptions, and calls to action. The projects represented in the publication and accompanying exhibition engage the fundamental relational qualities of objects to build active, social experiences. Essays and Thoughts: Henry James Haver Crissman, Mary Callahan Baumstark, Amanda Leigh Evans, Jeni Hansen Gard, Shannon Hebert Waldman, Forrest Sincoff Gard, nicole gugliotti, Namita Gupta Wiggers, Holly Hanessian, Lauren Karle, Elizabeth Kozlowski, Anna Metcalfe, Cheyenne Rudolph, Nicole Seisler, Michael J. Strand, Juliette Walker, Summer Zickefoose Workbook: Alex Amerri, Mariana Baquero, The Brick Factory, Rebecca Chernow, Keeryong Choi, Roz Crews, Jamie Crooke Powell, Jen DePaolo, Monica Dixon, Brian Gillis, Gregory Hatch, Ayumi Horie & Nick Moen, Max Infeld, Joshua Kosker, Kari Marboe, Mac McCusker & Project Canary, Lauren Moran, Hannah Newman, Salty (Xi Jie Ng), Rosa Novak, Iviva Olenick, Lauren Sandler, Robin Tieu & Art + Feminism, Brian Widmaier

Ceramics Monthly, October 2016, p. 102

by Forrest Sincoff Gard with Jeni Hansen Gard 
"Drilling through ceramics is actually not as hard as one might think. I’m talking about the task of course and not the actual material. It’s a matter of having the right tools and a little patience. I will say though, if you are creating something out of clay and you know you want a hole in it, the best thing to do is to make the hole in the leather- hard stage. However if you decide later on that you need a hole and the piece has already been red and glazed, then the following instructions will be very helpful for the process."

Pottery Making Illustrated,  Feb/March, 2016
by Jeni Hansen Gard
"With a strong cultural connection to Denmark, as the grand-daughter of Danish immigrants, I’ve always been interested in the traditions of my ancestors. In my own work, I look at the rituals of meal sharing and its historical and contemporary relationship to ceramic tableware. I traveled to Denmark in May for an artist residency at Guldergaard International Ceramic Research Center in hopes of discovering my food heritage. What I found was a culture of people who were in love with their bread. The most common, and by far the most important, recipe I was taught was for the traditional Danish rye bread, known as rugbrød." 

Tales of the Red Clay Rambler by Ben Carter. Season 5 Episode 148

Jeni Hansen Gard and Forrest Gard on Socially Engaged Craft
"Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Jeni and Forrest Gard. Founding members of the Socially Engaged Craft Collective both create ceramic objects that are used in performance based art that engages community. In the interview we talk about their history as makers, the core framework of socially engaged art, and the founding of the collective."

Ceramics Monthly, May 2016, p. 74 
Emerging Artist
"Many of us have experienced the ways that using handmade ceramic vessels can influence the conversations had over a meal, and make us think more deeply about the daily ritual of eating. Jeni Hansen Gard builds on this by orchestrating projects that increase awareness beyond our field about handmade ceramics, food production, as well as the social nature and community-building potential of shared meals. She provides parameters for the use of specific sets, finds community members to participate in the project, and sends the work out into the world to act as a vehicle for building experiences. Participants become collaborators who are encouraged to share their perspectives in words and photos. The physical objects are often made with transport in mind. As people are asked to take dishes with them on the go, or to pass them on to the next participant, building carrying cases into the design is both an opportunity for further collaboration with artists in other media, and a necessity to ensure each piece can be used by multiple participants."