NEW! Formed and Fired: Three Ceramic Traditions

Formed and Fired: Three Ceramic Traditions

March 19 - May 18, 2008
First Floor
McGuinn Gallery

Formed and Fired: Three Ceramic Traditions features one local exhibit of 19th century pottery and two national exhibits that show the various ways in which artists draw from historical traditions to create new works.

The exhibit's opening coincides with the 42nd annual National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Conference, held at Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center, March 18 - 23.

The new three-in-one exhibition includes:

Pots by the River: Treasures from the Waynesburg University Collection displays a selection of 65 pieces from Waynesburg's premier collection of functional salt glazed ceramic pots made in Southwestern Pennsylvania from the 1830s-90s.

Pots by the River highlights 19th century pottery jars, jugs, milk pans, pitchers, and crocks. The exhibit also includes historical information about the importance of the early stoneware industry in the region, how the pots were produced and fired, and what role the rivers played in distributing the stoneware to a national market.

Seven Potters Follow Ohr shows the works of seven national potters whose work is directly influenced by the pottery tradition of George Ohr, a radical 19th century artist known as "The Mad Potter of Biloxi."

Ohr utilized wild shapes and forms that broke the mold of traditional pottery. The artists featured in the exhibit take their inspiration from Ohr's groundbreaking style of thin walls and metallic glazes characterized by twisted and manipulated forms.

Women with Wood - Three Generations is an eclectic exhibition that displays the work of 17 female clay artists from throughout the United States. Each artist created their works using wood-firing kilns - typically a male-dominated firing method - that can take as long as ten days. The artists span three generations, including traditional works by some of the first women who utilized wood-firing as well as wood-fired art created by contemporary artists.