Art In Clay

Potters Turn Simple Materials into Art

September 24, 2011 through July 29, 2012 in the Gladys & Franklin Clark Foundation Gallery at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum

Art in Clay: Masterworks of North Carolina Earthenware is a ground-breaking exhibit featuring approximately 120 pieces of masterfully decorated slipware, sculptural bottles, refined creamware, and faience, reflecting the beginning of North Carolina’s earthenware tradition and its rich artistic legacy. The exhibit also includes pottery shards and molds that were used to create the bottles.

From both an artistic and technical standpoint, the work of North Carolina potters often surpassed that of their Middle Atlantic and New England contemporaries. As the objects in this show reveal, North Carolina potters transformed the simplest of materials into vessels of utility, astonishing beauty, and deep cultural significance.

The exhibition was organized by Old Salem Museums and Gardens, The Chipstone Foundation, and The Caxambas Foundation.

The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg will offer free admission in celebration of An Occasion for the Arts on October 1 and 2.