From contemporary sculpture that would add zing to any living room to a beautifully glazed cup that nestles cozily in your hands, clay is omnipresent in Pittsburgh in nearly 100 exhibitions at venues as varied as a museum and a private school armory.

The impetus for this display -- nearly all of which is open to the public and free -- is the annual conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, which ends today, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. A large percentage of the exhibitions also close at the end of the day, so it's a good time to lace up those walking shoes and hit the streets.

Fortunately, many others that are well worth visiting will linger in established galleries and art venues (see complete listing ).

The works from four of the longer-running shows on this page are just a sampler. There's something to please most tastes, whether your preferences lean to practical (bowls, plates, teapots) or conversational (politically or socially edgy sculpture); traditional (historic salt-glazed stoneware crocks); or contemporary (abstract sculpture or even mixed media).

Many of the works are for sale, some of them quite affordable while others command prices commensurate with the established reputations of the artists who made them.

Because it's almost impossible to get to every show, here are some picks from exhibitions closing today to choose from:

• 9 a.m.-3 p.m., "From a Woman's Hand: Past Visions -- Present Realities," 18 artists (re)present the figure, and "Pipe Dreams East," a sculpture garden of works from the arts-in-industry program at Logan Pipe Sculpture Workshop, Ohio, at The Ellis School, 6425 Fifth Ave., Shadyside. Exit "Woman's Hand" through the far door and curve left around the back of the campus and down a ramp to The Ellis Armory to feast visually on 15 exhibitions, from handsome wood-fired functional ware to iffy experimental. Don't miss Stephanie Craig's sculpture, in "Recent Refinements"; or, in "Throw Back," Joseph Blue Sky and Donna Webb's folky "The Makers," two elders in a cavernous room, she bent over a wheel and he sculpting at a bench. The products of their labor -- such as shellfish, vessels, a giraffe -- line shelves that stretch to a firmament ceiling.

• 10 a.m.-5 p.m., "BackTalk," four Canadians do some conceptual lifting, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Scaife Building, 6300 Fifth Ave., Shadyside.

• Noon-1 p.m., break fresh artisan bread with Amber Ginsburg and Joe Madrigal in their performance/installation "K[ne(e){a}d]," part of "Voices," the 2008 NCECA Invitational Exhibition at the Society for Contemporary Craft, 2100 Smallman St., Strip District. The exhibition will remain through June 7, but this is the last day to meet the artists and talk about concepts behind their piece like community, slow food and environment. It's also the last day they arrive at Enrico Biscotti at 6:30 a.m. to bake bread in terra-cotta pans they've made from casts of their arms and other body parts.

• 1-4 p.m., well-conceived and visually compelling installations "re-Collection," by Jae Won Lee and Blake Williams, and "Forgotten Forest," by Alexandra Watrous; and exploratory "The Myth of Permanence," at Standard Ceramic, 1 Walnut St., Carnegie.

• 1-4 p.m., elegant installation "To Live Together Harmoniously With Nature," by Japanese artists Hiromu and Mieko Okuda, collaborating with Pittsburgh area students at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild's Drew Mathieson Center for Horticultural Technology, 1650 Metropolitan St., North Side. Includes closing farewell to Okudas, 2-4 p.m.

• Ends Friday, "Allegheny County Regional K-12 Ceramic Exhibition," you'll leave with a smile, Andrew Carnegie Free Library, 300 Beechwood Ave., Carnegie.

• Ends next Saturday, "Cleveland Institute of Art Ceramics Program" and "Composite: Works by Ohio University Faculty and Graduate Students," strong shows at Borelli Edwards Gallery, 3583 Butler St., Lawrenceville.