Weisman Museum Permanent Collection: Ceramics

About the Art
Clay is a pliable, fine-grained earth that hardens when fired or heated to extreme temperatures. Working with clay to create vessels and pots that serve functional needs as well as aesthetic desires is a human activity extending back to the beginning of recorded history.

The Weisman Art Museum holds a particularly rich collection of ceramics. The museum’s collection includes about 2,000 ceramic objects from a range of eras, geographical locations, cultures, and styles.

Many of the same challenges facing ceramic artists thousands of years ago continue today. These challenges are technical, aesthetic, and conceptual. How does one attain technical perfection and innovation within this time-honored medium? What visual or aesthetic effect is possible or desirable? How can ceramic artists create works that connect with and reflect the cultural values and beliefs held by society-at-large? Some artists use clay to create pure sculpture rather than functional objects, while others choose to make functional objects more sculptural. Other artists use ceramic objects more as a “canvas” on which to paint. The museum’s collection of ceramics shows the variety of ways artists—past and present—have used clay to create art, each within the context of their time and culture and according to the individual artist’s goals.