History: A Legacy in Motion. Alfred Ceramic Art 1900-2025 is on view at the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum at Alfred University, New York
May 8 – December 14, 2025
One hundred and twenty-five years ago Charles Fergus Binns was invited to become the first director of a new initiative at Alfred University, the New York School of Clay-Working and Ceramics. Binns was a skillful potter with an established practice at the Royal Worcester Porcelain Works and had a talent for drawing gifted people to him. It is no exaggeration to say that he, along with his initial core of instructors, launched American studio ceramics, and at the same time transformed Alfred into a hub of creative ceramic activity that has persisted to this day. Many of its early students went on to become respected instructors, launching ceramics programs across the country. Over time, the art and engineering of ceramics were recognized as distinct disciplines, though Alfred remained a celebrated destination of study for both. Over the years, the school of art grew to include new disciplines to better reflect the landscape of American art, but ceramic practices remained at its core. The next generations of instructors solidified the Alfred reputation through their unique contributions, such that no book on the history of American ceramics can be written without mention of the Alfred legacy.
Today, in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the New York State College of Ceramics, the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum is delighted to present the history of this ceramic tradition by showcasing the work of the 26 artists who taught (and teach) full-time in this unique community. In so doing, the exhibition highlights a key chapter in the history of American ceramics, a story of art but also of industry, craft, aesthetics, politics and increasing diversity of creative approaches. The over 100 works on display include functional and aesthetically rich vessels by early pioneers, innovative forms by some of the country’s most well-known figures, and contemporary works that push the boundaries of possibility and continue Alfred’s legacy of excellence.
The exhibition features the principal artist-teachers at the New York State College of Ceramics who, regardless of their specific time in history, are unquestionably inspiring the present. It is impossible in the current context to do justice to the contributions of all the artists in the exhibition, but by way of providing a summary we can approach Alfred’s history of ceramics by breaking it up into different “generations” of artist-teachers.
The first generation was obviously that of Charles Binns, whose twenty-six pieces in the exhibition reminds us that quality craftsmanship is truly timeless. However, Binns wasn’t working alone. Marion Fosdick, who was initially hired to teach drawing and design, and Katherine Clara Nelson, who replaced Fosdick when she shifted to ceramics, worked with Binns to develop pioneering curriculum for functional ceramic education. Their model continued to evolve with the help of Charles Harder, who arrived in 1927. Harder was enamored with the “New Bauhaus” aesthetic and studied with Lásló Moholoy-Nagy in Chicago. By 1944, Harder was the Chair of the Design Department, and cemented Alfred’s reputation as a place to pursue “functional design.”
After the war, a new generation of artists came to call Alfred home and throughout the 50s and 60s drew from the foundation that had been laid for them to develop the next phase of Alfred’s evolution. Daniel Rhodes was the first to graduate from the MFA program in 1943, and in 1947 began a teaching career that was to last almost thirty years. Rhodes published the extremely influential “Clay and Glazes for the Potter” in 1957, which became mandatory reading for aspiring ceramicists for decades to come. Ted Randall arrived in 1951, and over the course of his 30 years helped transform the college into a full-fledged art school with degree programs in most disciplines. He is also known as the primary force behind the creation of the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts as an independent organization, as well as for the development of a modular, affordable kick-wheel which can still be found in studios today. Val Cushing, author of the famous and still popular “Cushing Handbook,” arrived in 1957, and prodigy Robert Turner in 1958. These four men each thought deeply about the vessel form and in their own unique ways fused ceramic tradition and “modern art.” Looking at their works in the exhibition, which are placed one after another, one can see this decisive turning point in ceramic history. Collectively, they (along with Bill Parry, who arrived in 1963, and Wallace Higgins, who started in 1961), ensured the reputation of Alfred as a place committed to excellent teaching, a place at once deeply engaged in materials research and also committed to the possibilities of clay treated as fine art.
The 70’s and 80’s might be seen as marking another “generation” of artist-teachers at Alfred. Wayne Higby arrived in 1973, Tony Hepburn in 1976, and Tom Spleth in 1978. Then, in 1984, the college hired Anne Currier, Andrea Gill (the first women since Marion Fosdick), and John Gill. Spleth moved from Alfred that same year, but the remaining five were to collectively set a new tone at Alfred, one that explored radically new vocabularies of color, scale, subject matter, technique and style. Hepburn, in addition to the everyday objects he sculpted with voluptuous thick slabs of clay (like the boots and watering can on display in the exhibition), experimented with large-scale installation projects he referred to as “gates.” Higby fused ceramic vessel-making with the tradition of landscape painting and developed a revolutionary use of difficult Raku techniques. Currier brought modernist sculptural concerns to the forefront of her ceramic practice, while John Gill went in another direction and showed us color and construction in a way which had never been seen before. Andrea Gill reimagined the vessel form by giving it wings, and likewise embraced color through her rediscovery of majolica glaze techniques. These artists, like the generation that preceded them, stood on a platform of possibility that had been established before their arrival, and moved the Alfred ceramic tradition into completely new domains.
The current generation likewise continues to push boundaries in multiple directions simultaneously. Walter McConnell, who started in 1997 can be included in this group despite his recent retirement in 2023. He was among the first to explore the potential of unfired sculpture, creating ephemeral environments of clay. More recently he has become known for the work on display in the exhibition, in which vast numbers of slip-cast figures are carefully piled in stupa-like arrangements. Linda Sikora and Matt Kelleher continue the Alfred tradition of advancing the possibilities of vessel forms, though each from quite different perspectives. Jason Green makes innovative tile work and is at the vanguard of new technologies, exploring 3D scanning, printing, and digital fabrication. Stephanie Hanes has, over the last decade, developed a spectacular body of large-scale sculptural work exploring contemporary issues of embodiment, while Paul Briggs’s complex “Knot-stories” are simultaneously feats of ceramic engineering and poetic references to contemporary prison structures. Nicki Green, a recent addition to the faculty, fuses issues of cultural identity, queerness, ritual, history and “the aesthetics of otherness” into a highly original transdisciplinary practice.
It is impossible here to do justice to the contributions of all the artists who have made Alfred what it is today, and the above merely scratches the surface of a much longer story. In addition, Alfred is, and has been, host to numerous visiting instructors and special guests, as well as an extremely dedicated support staff, who deeply enrich the program and without whom the accomplishments of those mentioned above would not have been possible.
The complete list of exhibiting artists include: Charles F. Binns, Marion Fosdick, Charles Harder, Don Schreckengost, Daniel Rhodes, Ted Randall, Val Cushing, Robert Turner, Wallace Higgins, William Parry, Wayne Higby, Tony Hepburn, Tom Spleth, Anne Currier, John Gill, Andrea Gill, Doug Jeck, Walter McConnell, Linda Sikora, Matt Kelleher, Linda Sormin, Yonatan Hopp, Jason Green, Stephanie Hanes, Paul Briggs, and Nicki Green.
History: A Legacy in Motion is co-curated by ACAM Director and Head Curator Wayne Higby and Assistant Director Benjamin Evans.
The Alfred Ceramic Art Museum at Alfred University is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm.
Contact
Email: ceramicsmuseum@alfred.edu
Phone: +1 607-871-2421
Alfred Ceramic Art Museum
2 Pine Street
Alfred, NY 14802
United States
Photos by Carole Volpe and Benjamin Evans
