Ceramics Research Center receives 'The Studio Potter' archives

Following a yearlong conversation, the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center (CRC) in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts received significant ceramic archives from "The Studio Potter" magazine, which documents 30 years of creative activity. The archives will be available Sept. 30.

“We are delighted to have the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center as the new home of the "Studio Potter" archives. Not only are we confident (and relieved) that the center has the expertise and resources to preserve and safeguard these precious materials, but we are very excited for "The Studio Potter's" history to be in a place where it will be truly accessible to scholars and students of the field,” says Mary Barringer, current "Studio Potter" editor. “Over the 30 years of Gerry Williams’ editorship, he amassed an astonishing collection of interviews, photographs, and correspondence with important and representative figures in contemporary ceramics: makers, thinkers, and livers of the dream. I can't think of a better place for this vivid record of the voices, ideas, and images of an entire period to be preserved and made available to future generations, nor could "Studio Potter's" archives be in better company. On behalf of the entire board and membership, I thank the Ceramics Research Center for your stewardship of our material history.”

Peter Held, curator of ceramics at the CRC, shares Barringer’s sentiments about the recent magazine archives acquisition. “This wonderful gift to the CRC is greatly appreciated and we thank the magazine’s board for entrusting us with this significant resource,” Held says.

Founded in 1972, "The Studio Potter" magazine, under Gerry Williams’ editorial vision, was at the forefront of offering insightful writings on technology, criticism, aesthetics, and history within the ceramics community. An intrepid travel, Williams, along with his wife Julie, amassed a trove of oral histories, transcribed interviews, photographs and journals. Many artists in the archive are represented in the ASU Art Museum’s collection. Coupled with existing holdings from the renowned Susan Harnly Peterson Archives, the CRC has greatly expanded its research potential within the field while making these archives more accessible to scholars, educators and students.

To make an appointment to use "The Studio Potter" archives please contact Mary-Beth Buesgen, CRC program specialist at 480.965.7092, or mary-beth.buesgen@asu.edu. The ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center is located on 10th Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe, Ariz. Free parking is available in ASU Art Museum-marked spaces. The CRC is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and is closed, Sunday, Monday and holidays. Exhibitions held at the CRC are free for everyone.

The ASU Art Museum, named "the single most impressive venue for contemporary art in Arizona" by Art in America, is part of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. The museum is located on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street in Tempe and admission is free. Hours are 11 a.m.-8 p.m., on Tuesdays (during the academic year), 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday and closed on Sundays and Mondays. To learn more about the museum, call 480.965.2787 or visit http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu.

Peter Held, peter.held@asu.edu
480.727.8173
ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center
Curator of Ceramics