Celebrating Ceramics at Utah State University's Museum

As part of the 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University, pieces from the museum's extensive ceramics collection will be featured.

The ceramic exhibition features 200 of the 1,250 works in the museum's permanent collection. The exhibit includes a little something for everyone — from a fantastic teapot that looks like a cactus to wheel-thrown vases three feet tall, said Victoria Rowe, interim director of the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum. The exhibit represents a historical overview of studio ceramics and pottery throughout the Western states within the last 80 years.

Utah State University's museum bears the name of Nora Eccles Treadwell Harrison, a ceramic artist and noted collector of ceramic works, Rowe said. Harrison was also a generous patron of the visual arts, and part of the museum's anniversary is in honor of her gift to this museum. It is through her generosity that the genesis of the collection was begun, said Rowe.

The exhibit begins with an area devoted to the directors and artists of the Archie Bray Foundation and the 50 years of its existence as an artist's colony.

Rowe said the Archie Bray Foundation, an artist residency in Helena, Mont., has generated a significant influence in the creative evolution of American ceramics. The Bray was founded in the early 1950s in Montana as a nurturing setting in which resident artists could explore their craft unthreatened, said Rowe. The Bray's influence is well documented by the works found in the Nora Eccles Treadwell Harrison ceramics collection, and many of the artists have taught workshops at Utah State.

Additional displays in the exhibit explore the broad variety of techniques used at Utah State University as part of the ceramics curriculum.

One of these techniques, the woodfire process, has become well-known at Utah State, Rowe said. This woodfire process was first employed at Utah State by art department professor John Neely in 1984 and uses wood rather than the traditional coal method to fire ceramics. This unique process creates wood clouding and smoking effects that give character to the pieces. The wood fire process has been imitated and replicated around the world, bringing international acclaim to Utah State's department of art, said Neely.

"The strength of our ceramics gallery is in the quality and variety of expression based upon form, shape and surface design," said Rowe. "With more than 200 ceramic works on display, this is a unique opportunity to see so many vessels at one time. We invite all to come and explore the beauty and creativity that this exhibit reveals."

The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State is open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday noon to 5 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and holidays. For more information contact Rowe at (435) 797-0164 or visit the museum's Web site at www.artmuseum.usu.edu.

Contact: Victoria Rowe, (435) 797-0164
Writer: Rachel von Niederhausern