Firefest 2026 welcomes internationally recognized contemporary ceramic artist Bruce Dehnert as its Featured Artist, marking a major moment for the renowned Starworks festival in North Carolina. Scheduled for April 3–4, 2026, this landmark event brings together leading clay, glass, and metal artists for fiery demonstrations, monumental sculpture, and immersive public experiences.
Meet Bruce Dehnert: Ceramic Visionary
Bruce Dehnert is a Fellow of the International Academy of Ceramics with a storied international career and has been invited to be the 2026 Featured Ceramic Artist for Firefest 2026. He is Head of the Ceramics department at Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts, an esteemed program of the Catskill Mountain Foundation.
Firefest 2026 at Starworks: Dates, Location, and Scope
Held at Starworks, a vibrant art center housed at a former industrial hosiery mill in North Carolina, the annual Firefest celebration transforms the quiet town of Star into a glowing theater of heat and creation. The 2026 iteration of this two-day event, scheduled for April 3rd and 4th, is a landmark gathering for the international clay, glass and metal artists community.
Firefest is more than a ceramic festival; it is a ritual of transformation. Attendees are invited into a world of “fiery demonstrations,” where the air hums with the roar of kilns and the rhythmic clanging of metalwork. The weekend features a schedule of artist talks and hands-on workshops, allowing the public to engage directly with master makers like glass artist Dan Friday and metal artist Elsa Hoffman, who join Dehnert as the year’s featured trio.
Fire Sculpture and Artistic Practice
For Dehnert, the invitation marks a significant homecoming to the raw, process-driven heart of the medium. Known for his “architectonic” forms that merge geometric precision with the primal plasticity of clay, Dehnert’s work often explores the intersection of narrative, myth, and human psychology.
His contribution to Firefest 2026 will be both intellectual and monumental: in the weeks leading up to the event, he will reside at Starworks to construct the festival’s signature Fire Sculpture. Each year’s event culminates in the dramatic “fire sculpture” reveal, a monumental ceramic piece built on-site and fired to peak temperatures of over 2,000 degrees.
This monumental ceramic piece is the festival’s emotional and visual crescendo. Built on-site and fired in a specialized outdoor kiln, called a “petal kiln” because like a blossom, it opens outward at peak heat the sculpture is revealed to the public while still incandescent, reaching temperatures exceeding 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
As the walls drop and the sculpture emerges, glowing orange against the night sky, it serves as a testament to the endurance of the craft and the collaborative spirit of the Starworks community.
For those who follow Dehnert’s work at Sugar Maples Center For Creative Arts at the Catskill Mountain Foundation, this appointment is a celebration of his dual legacy as both a master builder of kilns and a sensitive chronicler of the ceramic experience through his prolific art practice and writing. Firefest offers a sensory immersion experience, featuring food trucks, locally crafted beer and wine, and live music that echoes through the historic mill. It is a rare moment where the technical rigor of the studio is laid bare for the public, demystifying the alchemy of fire. Tickets for the event go on sale in early February via the StarworksNC website.
Looking for Things to Do in the Catskills?
Explore hands-on opportunities with master artists, check out the Summer 2026 Art Workshops at the Catskill Mountain Foundation, where creativity, process, and experimentation come alive.