NCECA’s 60th conference, Volumes, takes place in Detroit, Michigan, March 25 - 28, 2026.

Huntington Place Convention Center
1 Washington Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan, 48226

Registration for the 2026 Volumes Conference opens in Fall 2025.

NCECA’s 60th conference, Volumes, takes place in Detroit, Michigan, March 25 - 28, 2026

Volumes, the 60th conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), explores material-driven experimentation and conceptual frameworks that animate art created through clay. The essential energy of voices and sounds of the Detroit region catalyzes this conference’s theme. 

Like the subterranean networks that connect trees in a forest, the meanings of words have roots that we can connect through etymology. Some of the earliest known artifacts containing writing were produced on scrolling spirals of papyrus that ancient Roman historians called volumen. The same underlying spiraling structure abides within pots, figures, and other forms fashioned from clay coils since ancient times. Today, neural networks carrying and harvesting volumes of information are generating Artificial Intelligence that will change how we learn, work, and create.

The meaning of volumes most integrally embodied in the 2026 conference theme lies within unseeable spaces of our clay works and the firing chambers that transform them. Volumes are forces that give power and shape to the world we experience. Detroit is a place that embodies this sense of interior energy. A real and metaphorical foundry of creative ambition and craftsmanship shaped by waves of migration, industry, and resilience, Detroit has volumes to teach us. 

Teaching, learning, and creation through clay involve continual engagement with volumes as action and analysis. Volumes give form to our cultural identities, continuity, and change in a time of environmental crisis. Centered on ceramic art, this 60th NCECA conference will expand access and deepen understanding of ceramic art. Creators of culture, educators, and students involved in pottery, sculpture, design and installation, and performance will be its engines.

Download 2026 Preliminary Planning Calendar PDF

2025 NCECA Formation Conference, Resource Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah.

2026 NCECA CONFERENCE HOTEL AND REGISTRATION PRICING INFORMATION


Volumes, the 60th annual conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts takes place in Detroit, Michigan.

Volumes, the 60th conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), explores material-driven experimentation and conceptual frameworks that animate art created through clay. The essential energy of voices and sounds of the Detroit region catalyzes this conference’s theme.

Hotel Rooms are filling quickly! Download the NCECA Hotel Pricing PDF and book your stay today!

2026 Registration and Hotel Pricing Information

2025 NCECA Formation Conference, Monkey Stuff, Gold Sponsor, Salt Lake City, Utah.

2026 NCECA SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Download the 2026 NCECA Sponsorship Packet PDF today!

Sponsorship opportunities are now available for the 2026 NCECA Volumes Conference in Detroit, Michigan, March 25-28, 2026. We are excited for you to join us in Detroit, Michigan! We have inspiring exhibitions and programming lined up. Learn more about raising the visibility of your exhibitions, programs, services, and more while supporting NCECA.

Visit the NCECA online store and explore new Sponsorship Opportunities, review ad specifications, and make your purchase. We have new sponsorship packets that offer onsite signage, podcast opportunity, and a branded conference app that will allow for high visibility throughout the conference.

You can quickly make purchases and payments through the NCECA online store.

Purchase a 2026 Sponsorship Opportunity

2025 NCECA Formation Conference, L&L Kilns, Resource Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah.

2026 NCECA RESOURCE HALL INFORMATION
Visit the Resource Hall Page for all available information!

Resource Hall Dates:  March 25-27, 2026
CLOSED:  Saturday, March 28, 2026

Any company or non-profit entity that manufactures or provides products and services to ceramic arts and education, is eligible to exhibit as a commercial or non-profit vendor within the Resource Hall. The purpose of the Resource Hall is to provide a venue for commercial and non-profit exhibitors to promote products, services, technology and highlight complementary missions that also support ceramic arts and education.

Visit the 2026 Resource Hall Information page for all available information at this time.

2026 Resource Hall Information