Project Award 2025

Ella Stenga will embark on a year-long project to investigate Alaska’s intertidal wildlife through ceramic works made with Alaska wild clay. She will integrate research, field studies, and scientific observations into her artistic practice and create a cohesive body of functional and sculptural work. Stenga will collaborate with the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward on an auction to support marine conservation and celebrate Alaska’s coastal ecosystems. 

Stenga would like the public to know that Ella Stenga of Stella Marina Pottery, is a ceramic and multimedia artist inspired by Alaska’s coastline and natural landscapes. Working by hand, she shapes wheel thrown vessels and sculptural works that echo patterns from intertidal zones as well as coniferous ones. Her process emphasizes texture and surface, carving away clay and layering glazes to create depth and movement reminiscent of water and earth. Most pieces are designed to be both functional and contemplative—artworks that invite touch, use, and a quiet connection to the natural world. Through her practice, Ella celebrates the beauty of imperfection and the grounding presence of handmade functional art.

(Left to right) “Stella Marina Urn,” 2023, ceramic/red stoneware, a wheel thrown lidded vessel with hand sculpted elements emulating barnacles and ochre starfish, 10 x 6 inches; “Slug Trail Jar,” 2023, ceramic/brown and red stoneware, lidded vessel with hand sculpted slugs and painted trail, 9 x 6 inches, “Radius Spoon,” 2025, porcelain, hand sculpted spoon based off the human radius bone, 6 inches.