Art aficionados who think they know clay are in for a surprise.

Golden’s Foothills Art Center is hosting the 2012 Colorado Clay exhibit, featuring 12 artists who not only show they have an appreciation for traditional clay work but are expanding what can be done with the medium.

“All 12 artists are from Colorado, and each artist has a very different style,” said Sheryl Harrington, coordinator of exhibits and programs. “It’s really going to appeal to different people, and make them say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know clay could do this.’ There’s a lot of wow factor here.”

The Foothills Art Center, 809 15th St., will hosting the exhibit through Aug. 30. It includes several examples of the work of each of the artists: Kim Ferrer, Robyn Gray, Jenny Gawronski, Catherine Cleary, Julie McNair, Barry Krzywicki, Julene Thom, Teresa Brooks, Jamie Lang, Bill Sanders, Sumi von Dassow and Paul Morris.

The show is juried by Steven Young Lee, resident artistic director of the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mont., who has many years experience with clay, according to Harrington.

“Lee has an appreciation of all kinds of styles, and he has an amazing vision,” she said. “He looks at each show differently, and he was the one who selected the 12 artists we’re displaying.”

Marianne Lorenz, a consulting curator who the Art Center, was brought on for a couple of shows, including the recently finished Chihuly glass exhibit. She helped install the clay exhibit, and said she is most impressed with the range of items on display.

“From abstract pieces to realistic animals, functional pottery and some purely display pieces, there’s just a huge range,” she said.

The center hosts the clay exhibit, which got its start as an annual show in the 1970s, every other year; the last show was in 2010.

“It’s been interesting to see the show develop over the years,” Harrington said. “The way it gets set up is, the juror looks at the submitted work and tells the artists to create a body of work to display, so we don’t necessarily know we what will get until it comes in.”

Harrington said the notion that even the gallery staff does not know exactly what is coming creates excitement for the artist, curators and the public. She said that while many of the pieces are large and can be expensive, most artists bring smaller, more affordable pieces for people to purchase.

Lorenz said the exhibit provides a wide sampling of what is going on in the clay-art movement and will show visitors the range of what’s out there.

“People are going to see work from artists they may have seen before and others that they’ve never heard of,” Harrington said. “It’s a really exciting show to show all the different styles out there.”

For more information on the Colorado Clay Exhibit, call 303-279-3922 or visit www.foothillsartcenter.org.