Scripps College's annual ceramics show in 2004, with Paul Soldner's "Floor Pot" in foreground. Credit: Krista Coquia / Scripps College. Image via the Los Angeles Times.

by Kelly Boyd

At this year’s dinner celebrating the 66th Scripps College Ceramic Annual it was announced that Scripps alumna Joan Lincoln, class of ’49 and her husband David had pledged to give $4 million to benefit students studying ceramics at Scripps and the affiliated Claremont Graduate University.

The gift includes a $3.5 million promise to Scripps for the construction of a state of the art, 3,000 square foot ceramic facility and an endowment for ceramic art programs and exhibitions.  Claremont Graduate University will be receiving $500,000 for the establishment of an endowment for graduate student scholarships. According to Scripps College president Lori Bettison-Varga, the gift gives the two institutions the opportunity to “recapture their place as preeminent educators of ceramic artists.”

This year’s Scripps College Ceramic Annual, held in the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery is titled “Material Matters: Art and Phenomena.”  Guest curated by Wayne Higby, who is the Kruson Distinguished Professor and Robert C. Turner Chair of Ceramic Art at the New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University, the exhibition features works from established master ceramicists as well as pieces from new artists working on the very cutting edge of the art form.  The theme, chosen by Higby, expresses the crucial nature of the relationship between material, process and idea in the conception and appreciation of art.

The works featured in the exhibition elaborate on that relationship, and artists include; Eliza Au, Benjamin DeMott, Claire Hedden, Hongwei Li, Howard Kottler, Maria Martinez, Walter McConnell, Chris Miller, Tom Schmidt, Paul Soldner, Peter Voulkos, Betty Woodman, Yao YongKang, and Guozhen Zhou.

The Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery is located at Eleventh Street and Columbia Avenue.  The exhibition runs through April 4^th and the gallery is free and open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 1-5 pm.  For more information, contact the gallery at (909) 607-3397.