The Adele and Leonard Leight Series: Art, Design and Innovation presents Garth Johnson, Paul Phillips and Sharon Sullivan Curator of Ceramics at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York

Sunday, Octopber 12
2 pm, Grand Hall

Free to register

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State of Clay: California Ceramics at the Speed

The Adele and Leonard Leight collection of contemporary ceramics has many stories to tell. One of the most interesting is the evolution of ceramics on the West Coast. Gertrud and Otto Natzler fled Austria in 1938 and settled in Los Angeles, where they set up a studio and inspired generations of potters. Another wave of ceramic artists was spearheaded by Peter Voulkos, who moved to Los Angeles in 1954. Garth Johnson, the Paul Phillips and Sharon Sullivan Curator of Ceramics at the Everson Museum of Art will use the Leight collection to tell the story of how California artists helped shape the field of contemporary ceramics.

Garth Johnson is the Paul Phillips and Sharon Sullivan Curator of Ceramics at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York. He is a self-described craft activist who explores craft’s influence and relevance in the 21st century. His recent exhibitions at the Everson include Renegades & Reformers: American Art Pottery, Earth Piece: Conceptual and Performative Works in Clay and Key Figures: Representational Ceramics 1932-1972.