Exhibitions Archive
June, 2006
Exhibitions
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: July 1, 2005 – May 31, 2006
The Field Museum is hosting a small exhibition, Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortiz, showing more than 20 ollas donated to the Museum by Leo and Lois Damkroger. Also included will be Casas Grandes pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries illustrating the prehistoric source of inspiration for this “complex and delicate artistic tradition .. producing some of the world’s finest contemporary ceramics.” Contact the Field Museum (312-922-9410), 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/mataortiz_tempexhib.htm
**SAN DIEGO, CA: September 19, 2005 – September 30, 2007
The San Diego Museum of Man, in Balboa Park, has mounted an exhibition, Reflections, showcasing 90 years of its cultural materials. It chronicles six periods in the Museum's history with a selection of objects from each. The purpose was to find 90 rare and significant objects representing 90 years of the Museum's collection history. Among the items chosen are two pots made by Juan Quezada in 1979. One is the "Levitation Pot," so called because of Spencer MacCallum's unique experience when he first saw it. The other has a saddle/bean-shaped mouth. The Museum of Man invites you to see Reflections, highlighting rare treasures from its 90-year history. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101. gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
DRAGOON, AZ: April 7, 2006 and thereafter
The Amerind Foundation has installed a permanent exhibit of prehistoric Paquimé ceramics juxtaposed with contemporary Mata Ortiz for comparison and contrast. Acclaimed potters from Mata Ortiz, the brothers Manuel (“Manolo”) and Armando Rodríguez, will attend the opening (see below under “Scheduled Events”), demonstrating and conducting a pottery-making workshop. Spencer MacCallum will speak and show slides of the early years of the Mata Ortiz art movement. It was the Amerind, under Dr. Charles C. DiPeso, that undertook the pioneering archaeological excavations at Paquimé 1959-1962 and later became an early, important booster of the Mata Ortiz pottery project. Located in Dragoon, Arizona 15 miles east of Benson, it has two superb museums, one of anthropology and the other of fine arts, in an unforgettable desert setting. Contact Carol Charnley (520-586-3666), Curator of Exhibits, The Amerind Foundation, Dragoon AZ 85609. ccharnley[at]amerind.org www.amerind.org
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: April 22 – Aug 13, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago will mount a major exhibition, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, consisting of 90 pieces of prehistoric Casas Grandes pottery of unprecedented artistic quality. To give these pieces their prehistoric Pueblo cultural context, the exhibition will also show 50 pieces representing other major styles: Mimbres, Four-Mile Polychrome, Hohokam, Sityatki polychrome from the Hopi Mesas, and some large Tularosa and Socorro ollas (Anasazi not represented). Yale University Press has released a hardcover catalog of 192 pages and more than 140 color illustrations that lists at $45 but is available at discount ($30) from Amazon.com. The text by Richard Townsend, Curator of African and Amerindian Art, Art Institute of Chicago, is supplemented with contributions by Ken Kokrda and Barbara Moulard. Richard Townsend writes of this exhibition:
Between A.D. 1200 and 1400 in the vast desert region that encompasses parts of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico, there flourished many ancient Indian communities whose diverse ceramic arts are considered among the most accomplished in the world. The visual tradition of this distinctive cultural area bears an unmistakable Southwestern character, readily distinguished from that of Mesoamerica to the south or the arts of the ancient Mississippian valley to the east. This will be the first major exhibition to explore, through works of the highest artistic order, the complex imagery of the Casas Grandes-Pakimé tradition of northwest Mexico in relation to the more archaeologically well-known and aesthetically appreciated styles of the American Southwest. Contrasting and comparing this powerful imagery will reveal as never before the exceptional achievement of Casas master potters, hitherto largely unknown to the public. Polychromatic designs of animals, both real and mythological, together with abstract human figures and geometries of remarkable variation, will be displayed to reveal their imaginative complexity.
Contact: Richard Townsend (312-443-3657), Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6110. rtownsend[at]artic.edu www.artic.edu
**SANTA FE, NM: November 5, 2006 – October 2007
The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture will mount an exhibition, The Secrets of Casas Grande. The exhibit will focus on the variety of forms and rich iconography of Casas Grandes ceramics, which offer a window to the ancient Casas Grandes world. Contact Dr. Melissa Powell (505-476-1257), Curator of Archaeology, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (Museum of New Mexico/Laboratory of Anthropology), 708 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505. melissa.powell[at]state.nm.us www.miaclab.org
**LAS CRUCES, NM; December 1, 2006 – January 20, 2007
The Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art will hold an exhibition of Mata Ortiz pottery, together with a separate sales gallery and six weekends of pottery demonstrations featuring different potters from Mata Ortiz (see under “Scheduled Events,” below). Watch the Calendar for details as plans develop. Contact Joy Miller (505-541-2221), Exhibitions Curator, or Lisa Pugh, Manager, Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art, 490 N. Water Street, Las Cruces, NM 88001-1224. jmiller@las-cruces.org
SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery art from the private collection of musician Alan Case. This collection contains some early pieces but mainly represents pieces from the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
May 2007
Editorial
MANUEL OLIVAS, R.I.P (1940-2007)
We have lost the most inventive and colorful of potters of Casas Grandes and an outstanding human being. About six p.m. last night, Thursday, May 3, while sitting and talking with friends, Manuel Olivas Lucero fell over without warning and died.
When I arrived in Nuevo Casas Grandes 31 years ago, looking for the maker of three anonymous pots I had found in a junk shop in Deming, New Mexico, I was directed to Manuel Olivas’ house near the main plaza because he was the one potter in town. Lest U.S. Customs officials think the pots were old and confiscate them, I had brought photos rather than the pots themselves. When I showed the pictures to Manuel, he immediately said he could make some pots just like those. “You don’t understand,” I said, “I’m looking for the person who made those pots.” “I can make some just like them,” he said, “maybe better.” “No, you don’t understand ..,” I said. When we finally got straight about that, we visited. He showed me his kiln, an ingenious, semi-subterranean affair that he fired with sawdust which he got free from a nearby lumber yard. As we spoke, he said something about firing his pots at night. “At night?”, I asked. “Yes, always at night,” he said, explaining that the sawdust created a lot of smoke. I got the image of a neighbor woman hanging out her wash on the line and what the clouds of smoke might have done to it. Manuel then said that I might look for my potter in Mata Ortiz, and of course that’s where I did find Juan Quezada, who said he’d made those three pots about six months earlier.
I enjoyed visiting with Manuel, and each time thereafter when I came to Mata Ortiz, I would stop to see him. About the third or fourth trip, however, I found his house empty—deserted. With great difficulty, I finally located him on the far, eastern edge of Nuevo Casas Grandes. “Why did you move?”, I asked. “Well,” he said, “people began to notice that the houses around the plaza were starting to turn grey, and they didn’t know why. One day they found out, and I had to move.”
But now Manuel had developed a new method of firing that did not require sawdust. Mounted on four high, metal stilts was a small keg of kerosene, from which a thin copper tube ran down and into a large drum, which was his firing chamber. The kerosene, warmed as it descended in the tube, had vaporized by the time it entered the drum. This arrangement made an excellent kiln. It was placed about six feet from his neighbor’s wire fence and was operating as he explained it to me. Admiringly, I began to walk around it on the side of his neighbor’s fence. But just as I started, he told me to go back. Go back? Why? Well, he said, a week earlier, he’d had an accident, an explosion. It had severely burned his neighbor’s pig. It had burned the pig so bad, in fact, that the neighbors were forced to have an unplanned barbecue. Manuel said it was all right with them now. But on my next visit, I found his house empty—deserted.
This time, Manuel had moved to Casas Grandes, the Pueblo Viejo, outside of town and well away from neighbors. As the pueblo grew over the next 25 years, a subdivision enveloped him. But he’d been there first, and this time he had devised a wholly different kind of kiln, wood-fired, that served him for the rest of his life. His house is a distinctive landmark on the left side of the highway leaving Casas Grandes toward Mata Ortiz, a house with long-legged, welded metal birds and abstract human figures in the yard, giant, open bowls painted in Paquimé designs, and a high pilon of five stacked oil drums, welded together and painted in alternate bands of red and white.
Manuel’s home became a popular stop on the schedule of dozens of tour buses every season. He and his wife, María, developed a winning pottery-making demonstration. In the back yard of the house, he would explain and show how he prepared the raw clay, how he made his mineral pigments, and how he fired pots in the outdoor kiln. Then, inviting the tour group which often numbered as many as 40 persons into the large studio room in their house set with chairs, they would sit on a raised platform in the front and demonstrate pottery-making, María hand-building a pot while Manuel expertly painted it in traditional Casas Grandes polychrome style. During this performance, a prehistoric pot was passed around for each person to take out a numbered piece of paper, the lucky person winning a free pot made by María and Manuel. Following this demonstration, Manuel and his son, Heriberto, would take up their guitars and give a concert, playing and singing a small repertoire of songs. Finally, they would invite the group into the sales area of the house where pottery of the entire family was displayed—and here the buying would begin.
Today, a small Elderhostel group of 16 persons was scheduled to attend Manuel’s and María’s demonstration. Instead, the bus drove to the velatorio where Manuel’s wake was in progress. Here the visitors paid their last respects to María and the family.
Manuel was independent of the Mata Ortiz tradition. He had learned pottery making from his grandfather, a potter. But around the time of the revolution, enameled tin-ware had displaced utilitarian pottery in the stores in northern Mexico. Manuel hadn’t made pottery for some decades when, in the early 1970s, it occurred to him to create some replicas of prehistoric Casas Grandes ceramics. When I met him a few years later, he would paint a pot with white, commercial paint after firing, then do the designs, and finally dirty it up with mud to give it an antique aspect. Unaware of how it was painted, I washed the first of his pots when I got it home and was surprised to find it suddenly come out shiny and bright. On every visit for several years I urged Manuel to develop a natural, mineral slip colorant like that used by Juan Quezada, one that he could paint with before firing. He was inventive and finally did. While I like to feel I can take some credit, Manuel almost certainly would have done so without my urging.
Manuel loved climbing about and exploring in the Sierras, looking always for new clays and penciling many pages of designs from the prehistoric pottery shards he came across. He made sometimes surprising applications of the prehistoric designs, such as automobile hub caps and even the Paquimé-painted toilet seat in his home.
When we first met, Manuel had a musical group that was popular at bailes, or dances. He once told me that some of his more regular work was in the red-light district of Nuevo Casas Grandes, where he provided music for dances that went on all night until morning. Maria didn’t care for that, he said, but it was good work. In the morning, he added, his eyes crinkling with humor, the madam would offer him part payment in kind. Not that he ever accepted, he said. But she always offered.
Manuel is survived by his wife, Maria Prieto, four children, Blanca 37, Teri 34, Flor 32, and Heriberto 30, and seven grandchildren. The children are skilled at pottery, some surpassing their father in the quality of their work. Manuel Olivas was a warm and devoted family person, the center about which the family life revolved. He is remembered within his family as cariñoso, un buen abuelo, and alegre (kind and loving, a good grandfather, and happy). He will live in the memory of all who knew him.
<<<<<< O >>>>>>
April, 2006
Exhibitions
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: July 1, 2005 – May 31, 2006
The Field Museum is hosting a small exhibition, Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortiz, showing more than 20 ollas donated to the Museum by Leo and Lois Damkroger. Also included will be Casas Grandes pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries illustrating the prehistoric source of inspiration for this “complex and delicate artistic tradition .. producing some of the world’s finest contemporary ceramics.” Contact the Field Museum (312-922-9410), 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/mataortiz_tempexhib.htm
**SAN DIEGO, CA: September 19, 2005 – September 30, 2007
The San Diego Museum of Man, in Balboa Park, has mounted an exhibition, Reflections, showcasing 90 years of its cultural materials. It chronicles six periods in the Museum's history with a selection of objects from each. The purpose was to find 90 rare and significant objects representing 90 years of the Museum's collection history. Among the items chosen are two pots made by Juan Quezada in 1979. One is the "Levitation Pot," so called because of Spencer MacCallum's unique experience when he first saw it. The other has a saddle/bean-shaped mouth. The Museum of Man invites you to see Reflections, highlighting rare treasures from its 90-year history. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101. gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
DRAGOON, AZ: April 7, 2006 and thereafter
The Amerind Foundation has installed a permanent exhibit of prehistoric Paquimé ceramics juxtaposed with contemporary Mata Ortiz for comparison and contrast. Acclaimed potters from Mata Ortiz, the brothers Manuel (“Manolo”) and Armando Rodríguez, will attend the opening (see below under “Scheduled Events”), demonstrating and conducting a pottery-making workshop. Spencer MacCallum will speak and show slides of the early years of the Mata Ortiz art movement. It was the Amerind, under Dr. Charles C. DiPeso, that undertook the pioneering archaeological excavations at Paquimé 1959-1962 and later became an early, important booster of the Mata Ortiz pottery project. Located in Dragoon, Arizona 15 miles east of Benson, it has two superb museums, one of anthropology and the other of fine arts, in an unforgettable desert setting. Contact Carol Charnley (520-586-3666), Curator of Exhibits, The Amerind Foundation, Dragoon AZ 85609. ccharnley[at]amerind.org www.amerind.org
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: April 22 – Aug 13, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago will mount a major exhibition, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, consisting of 90 pieces of prehistoric Casas Grandes pottery of unprecedented artistic quality. To give these pieces their prehistoric Pueblo cultural context, the exhibition will also show 50 pieces representing other major styles: Mimbres, Four-Mile Polychrome, Hohokam, Sityatki polychrome from the Hopi Mesas, and some large Tularosa and Socorro ollas (Anasazi not represented). Yale University Press has released a hardcover catalog of 192 pages and more than 140 color illustrations that lists at $45 but is available at discount ($30) from Amazon.com. The text by Richard Townsend, Curator of African and Amerindian Art, Art Institute of Chicago, is supplemented with contributions by Ken Kokrda and Barbara Moulard. Richard Townsend writes of this exhibition:
Between A.D. 1200 and 1400 in the vast desert region that encompasses parts of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico, there flourished many ancient Indian communities whose diverse ceramic arts are considered among the most accomplished in the world. The visual tradition of this distinctive cultural area bears an unmistakable Southwestern character, readily distinguished from that of Mesoamerica to the south or the arts of the ancient Mississippian valley to the east. This will be the first major exhibition to explore, through works of the highest artistic order, the complex imagery of the Casas Grandes-Pakimé tradition of northwest Mexico in relation to the more archaeologically well-known and aesthetically appreciated styles of the American Southwest. Contrasting and comparing this powerful imagery will reveal as never before the exceptional achievement of Casas master potters, hitherto largely unknown to the public. Polychromatic designs of animals, both real and mythological, together with abstract human figures and geometries of remarkable variation, will be displayed to reveal their imaginative complexity.
Contact: Richard Townsend (312-443-3657), Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6110. rtownsend[at]artic.edu www.artic.edu
**SANTA FE, NM: November 5, 2006 – October 2007
The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture will mount an exhibition, The Secrets of Casas Grande. The exhibit will focus on the variety of forms and rich iconography of Casas Grandes ceramics, which offer a window to the ancient Casas Grandes world. Contact Dr. Melissa Powell (505-476-1257), Curator of Archaeology, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (Museum of New Mexico/Laboratory of Anthropology), 708 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505. melissa.powell[at]state.nm.us www.miaclab.org
**LAS CRUCES, NM; December 1 – January 20, 2007
The Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art will hold an exhibition of Mata Ortiz pottery, together with a separate sales gallery and eight weekends of pottery demonstrations featuring different potters from Mata Ortiz (see under “Scheduled Events,” below). Watch the Calendar for details as plans develop. Contact Joy Miller (505-541-2221), Exhibitions Curator, or Lisa Pugh, Manager, Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art, 490 N. Water Street, Las Cruces, NM 88001-1224. jmiller@las-cruces.org
SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery art from the private collection of musician Alan Case. This collection contains some early pieces but mainly represents pieces from the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
March, 2006
Exhibitions
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: July 1, 2005 – May 31, 2006
The Field Museum is hosting a small exhibition, Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortiz, showing more than 20 ollas donated to the Museum by Leo and Lois Damkroger. Also included will be Casas Grandes pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries illustrating the prehistoric source of inspiration for this “complex and delicate artistic tradition .. producing some of the world’s finest contemporary ceramics.” Contact the Field Museum (312-922-9410), 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/mataortiz_tempexhib.htm
**DRAGOON, AZ: April 7, 2006 and thereafter
The Amerind Foundation has installed a permanent exhibit of prehistoric Paquimé ceramics juxtaposed with contemporary Mata Ortiz for comparison and contrast. Acclaimed potters from Mata Ortiz, the brothers Manuel (“Manolo”) and Armando Rodríguez, will attend the opening (see below under “Scheduled Events”), demonstrating and conducting a pottery-making workshop. Spencer MacCallum will speak and show slides of the early years of the Mata Ortiz art movement. It was the Amerind, under Dr. Charles C. DiPeso, that undertook the pioneering archaeological excavations at Paquimé 1959-1962 and later became an early, important booster of the Mata Ortiz pottery project. Located in Dragoon, Arizona 15 miles east of Benson, it has two superb museums, one of anthropology and the other of fine arts, in an unforgettable desert setting. Contact Carol Charnley (520-586-3666), Curator of Exhibits, The Amerind Foundation, Dragoon AZ 85609. ccharnley[at]amerind.org www.amerind.org
**CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: April 22 – Aug 13, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago will mount a major exhibition, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, consisting of 90 pieces of prehistoric Casas Grandes pottery of unprecedented artistic quality. To give these pieces their prehistoric Pueblo cultural context, the exhibition will also show 50 pieces representing other major styles: Mimbres, Four-Mile Polychrome, Hohokam, Sityatki polychrome from the Hopi Mesas, and some large Tularosa and Socorro ollas (Anasazi not represented). Yale University Press has released a hardcover catalog of 192 pages and more than 140 color illustrations that lists at $45 but is available at discount ($30) from Amazon.com. The text by Richard Townsend, Curator of African and Amerindian Art, Art Institute of Chicago, is supplemented with contributions by Ken Kokrda and Barbara Moulard. Richard Townsend writes of this exhibition:
Between A.D. 1200 and 1400 in the vast desert region that encompasses parts of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico, there flourished many ancient Indian communities whose diverse ceramic arts are considered among the most accomplished in the world. The visual tradition of this distinctive cultural area bears an unmistakable Southwestern character, readily distinguished from that of Mesoamerica to the south or the arts of the ancient Mississippian valley to the east. This will be the first major exhibition to explore, through works of the highest artistic order, the complex imagery of the Casas Grandes-Pakimé tradition of northwest Mexico in relation to the more archaeologically well-known and aesthetically appreciated styles of the American Southwest. Contrasting and comparing this powerful imagery will reveal as never before the exceptional achievement of Casas master potters, hitherto largely unknown to the public. Polychromatic designs of animals, both real and mythological, together with abstract human figures and geometries of remarkable variation, will be displayed to reveal their imaginative complexity.
Contact: Richard Townsend (312-443-3657), Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6110. rtownsend[at]artic.edu www.artic.edu
SANTA FE, NM: October 2006 – November 2007 (Exact dates to be announced)
The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture will mount an exhibition, Sin Fronteras: The Art and Archaeology of Casas Grandes Ceramics. Contact Melissa Powell (505-476-1257), Curator of Archaeology, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (Museum of New Mexico/Laboratory of Anthropology), 708 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505. www.miaclab.org
SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery art from the private collection of musician Alan Case. This collection contains some early pieces but mainly represents pieces from the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
February, 2006
Exhibitions
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: July 1, 2005 – May 31, 2006
The Field Museum is hosting a small exhibition, Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortiz, showing more than 20 ollas donated to the Museum by Leo and Lois Damkroger. Also included will be Casas Grandes pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries illustrating the prehistoric source of inspiration for this “complex and delicate artistic tradition .. producing some of the world’s finest contemporary ceramics.” Contact the Field Museum (312-922-9410), 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/mataortiz_tempexhib.htm
**DRAGOON, AZ: April 7, 2006 and thereafter
The Amerind Foundation is mounting a permanent exhibit of prehistoric Paquimé ceramics juxtaposed with contemporary Mata Ortiz for comparison and contrast. Master potter Manuel (“Manolo”) Rodríguez and family from Mata Ortiz will attend the opening (see below under “Scheduled Events”—April 7-9), demonstrating and conducting a pottery-making workshop. Spencer MacCallum will speak and show slides of the early years of the Mata Ortiz art movement. For those who don’t yet know the Amerind, located in Dragoon, Arizona 15 miles east of Benson, you’ve a great treat ahead. Under Dr. Charles DiPeso, the Amerind undertook the first archaeological excavations at Paquimé 1959-1962. Contact Carol Charnley (520-586-3666), Acting Curator of Exhibits, The Amerind Foundation, Dragoon AZ 85609. ccharnley[at]amerind.org www.amerind.org
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: April 22 – Aug 13, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago will mount a major exhibition, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, consisting of 90 pieces of prehistoric Casas Grandes pottery of unprecedented artistic quality. To give these pieces their prehistoric Pueblo cultural context, the exhibition will also show 50 pieces representing other major styles: Mimbres, Four-Mile Polychrome, Hohokam, Sityatki polychrome from the Hopi Mesas, and some large Tularosa and Socorro ollas (Anasazi not represented). Yale University Press has released a hardcover catalog of 192 pages and more than 140 color illustrations that lists at $45 but is available at discount ($30) from Amazon.com. The text by Richard Townsend, Curator of African and Amerindian Art, Art Institute of Chicago, is supplemented with contributions by Ken Kokrda and Barbara Moulard. Richard Townsend writes of this exhibition:
Between A.D. 1200 and 1400 in the vast desert region that encompasses parts of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico, there flourished many ancient Indian communities whose diverse ceramic arts are considered among the most accomplished in the world. The visual tradition of this distinctive cultural area bears an unmistakable Southwestern character, readily distinguished from that of Mesoamerica to the south or the arts of the ancient Mississippian valley to the east. This will be the first major exhibition to explore, through works of the highest artistic order, the complex imagery of the Casas Grandes-Pakimé tradition of northwest Mexico in relation to the more archaeologically well-known and aesthetically appreciated styles of the American Southwest. Contrasting and comparing this powerful imagery will reveal as never before the exceptional achievement of Casas master potters, hitherto largely unknown to the public. Polychromatic designs of animals, both real and mythological, together with abstract human figures and geometries of remarkable variation, will be displayed to reveal their imaginative complexity.
Contact: Richard Townsend (312-443-3657), Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6110. rtownsend[at]artic.edu www.artic.edu
**SANTA FE, NM: October 2006 – November 2007 (Exact dates to be announced)
The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture will mount an exhibition, Sin Fronteras: The Art and Archaeology of Casas Grandes Ceramics. Contact Melissa Powell (505-476-1257), Curator of Archaeology, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (Museum of New Mexico/Laboratory of Anthropology), 708 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505. www.miaclab.org
SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery art from the private collection of musician Alan Case. This collection contains some early pieces but mainly represents pieces from the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
Januray, 2006
Exhibitions
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: July 1, 2005 – May 31, 2006
The Field Museum is hosting a small exhibition, Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortiz, showing more than 20 ollas donated to the Museum by Leo and Lois Damkroger. Also included will be Casas Grandes pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries illustrating the prehistoric source of inspiration for this “complex and delicate artistic tradition .. producing some of the world’s finest contemporary ceramics.” Contact the Field Museum (312-922-9410), 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/mataortiz_tempexhib.htm
CHIHUAHUA CITY, CHIH.: October 5-16, 2005 (Now past)
As part of the first annual Festival Internacional Chihuahua: Encuentro en la Cultura, the State of Chihuahua, through the Instituto Chihuahuense de la Cultura, honored Juan Quezada on Thursday, October 6 (see under “Scheduled Events,” below), and hosted a week-long exhibition of 20-30 pieces of his recent work. The exhibit was free to the public for a week at the Government Palace. Contact Hector Jaramillo or Enrique Servín (011-52-614-413-4343) in Chihuahua City.
**DRAGOON, AZ: April 7-9
The Amerind Foundation is planning what will be a permanent exhibit of prehistoric Paquimé ceramics juxtaposed with contemporary Mata Ortiz for comparison and contrast. Master potter Mauel (“Manolo”) Rodríguez from Mata Ortiz will be present, demonstrating on Saturday and teaching a pottery-making class of 8-12 people on Sunday. Spencer Maccallum will give a slide talk on the beginning years of the Mata Ortiz phenomenon. Watch the Calendar for details as plans for the weekend firm up. For those who don’t yet know the Amerind, located in Dragoon, Arizona some 15 miles east of Benson, you have a treat in store. There are two outstanding museums, one anthropology and the other fine arts. The Amerind, under Dr. Charles DiPeso, conducted the excavations at Paquimé 1959-1962. Contact Carol Charnley, Acting Curator of Exhibits, or John A. Ware (520-586-3666), Director, The Amerind Foundation, Dragoon AZ 85609. ccharnley[at]amerind.org jware[at]amerind.org
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: April 22 – Aug 13, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago will mount a major exhibition, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, consisting of 90 pieces of prehistoric Casas Grandes pottery of unprecedented artistic quality. To give these pieces their prehistoric Pueblo cultural context, the exhibition will also show 50 pieces representing other major styles: Mimbres, Four-Mile Polychrome, Hohokam, Sityatki polychrome from the Hopi Mesas, and some large Tularosa and Socorro ollas (Anasazi not represented). Yale University Press has released a hardcover catalog of 192 pages and more than 140 color illustrations that lists at $45 but is available at discount ($30) from Amazon.com. The text by Richard Townsend, Curator of African and Amerindian Art, Art Institute of Chicago, is supplemented with contributions by Ken Kokrda and Barbara Moulard. Richard Townsend writes of this exhibition:
Between A.D. 1200 and 1400 in the vast desert region that encompasses parts of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico, there flourished many ancient Indian communities whose diverse ceramic arts are considered among the most accomplished in the world. The visual tradition of this distinctive cultural area bears an unmistakable Southwestern character, readily distinguished from that of Mesoamerica to the south or the arts of the ancient Mississippian valley to the east. This will be the first major exhibition to explore, through works of the highest artistic order, the complex imagery of the Casas Grandes-Pakimé tradition of northwest Mexico in relation to the more archaeologically well-known and aesthetically appreciated styles of the American Southwest. Contrasting and comparing this powerful imagery will reveal as never before the exceptional achievement of Casas master potters, hitherto largely unknown to the public. Polychromatic designs of animals, both real and mythological, together with abstract human figures and geometries of remarkable variation, will be displayed to reveal their imaginative complexity.
Contact: Richard Townsend (312-443-3657), Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6110. rtownsend[at]artic.edu www.artic.edu
**SANTA FE, NM: October 2006 – November 2007 (Exact dates to be announced)
The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture will mount an exhibition, Sin Fronteras: The Art and Archaeology of Casas Grandes Ceramics. Contact Melissa Powell (505-476-1257), Curator of Archaeology, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (Museum of New Mexico/Laboratory of Anthropology), 708 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505. www.miaclab.org
SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery art from the private collection of musician Alan Case. This collection contains some early pieces but mainly represents pieces from the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
September, 2005
Exhibitions
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: July 1, 2005 – May 31, 2006
The Field Museum will host an exhibition, Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortiz, showing more than 20 ollas donated to the Museum by Leo and Lois Damkroger. Also included will be Casas Grandes pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries illustrating the prehistoric source of inspiration for this “complex and delicate artistic tradition .. producing some of the world’s finest contemporary ceramics.” Contact: The Field Museum (312-922-9410), 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/mataortiz_tempexhib.htm
**CHIHUAHUA CITY, CHIH.: October 5-16
As part of the first annual Festival Internacional Chihuahua: Encuentro en la Cultura, the State of Chihuahua, through the Instituto Chihuahuense de la Cultura, will honor Juan Quezada on Thursday, October 6 (see under “Scheduled Events,” below), and host a week-long exhibition of 20-30 pieces of his recent work. The exhibit will be open to the public without charge, 9-9 p.m. daily, at the Government Palace, for approximately a week. Contact Hector Jaramillo or Enrique Servín (011-52-614-413-4343) in Chihuahua City.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: April 22 – Aug 13, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago will mount a major exhibition, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, of 90 pieces of prehistoric Casas Grandes pottery of unprecedented artistic quality. To give these pieces their prehistoric Pueblo cultural context, the exhibition will also show 50 pieces representing other major styles: Mimbres, Four-Mile Polychrome, Hohokam, Sityatki polychrome from the Hopi Mesas, and some large Tularosa and Socorro ollas (Anasazi not represented). Yale University Press will release on November 11th a hardcover catalog of 192 pages and more than 140 color illustrations that lists for $45 but will be available for $29.70 from Amazon. The text by Richard Townsend, Curator of African and Amerindian Art, Art Institute of Chicago, will be supplemented with contributions by Ken Kokrda and Barbara Moulard. Richard Townsend writes of this exhibition:
Between A.D. 1200 and 1400 in the vast desert region that encompasses parts of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico, there flourished many ancient Indian communities whose diverse ceramic arts are considered among the most accomplished in the world. The visual tradition of this distinctive cultural area bears an unmistakable Southwestern character, readily distinguished from that of Mesoamerica to the south or the arts of the ancient Mississippian valley to the east. This will be the first major exhibition to explore, through works of the highest artistic order, the complex imagery of the Casas Grandes-Pakimé tradition of northwest Mexico in relation to the more archaeologically well-known and aesthetically appreciated styles of the American Southwest. Contrasting and comparing this powerful imagery will reveal as never before the exceptional achievement of Casas master potters, hitherto largely unknown to the public. Polychromatic designs of animals, both real and mythological, together with abstract human figures and geometries of remarkable variation, will be displayed to reveal their imaginative complexity.
Contact: Richard Townsend (312-443-3657), Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6110. rtownsend[at]artic.edu www.artic.edu
SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery from the private collection of musician Alan Case. While this collection contains some early pieces, it mainly shows the pottery art of Mata Ortiz from the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
August, 2005
Exhibitions
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: July 1, 2005 – May 31, 2006
The Field Museum will host an exhibition, Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortiz, showing more than 20 ollas donated to the Museum by Leo and Lois Damkroger. Also included will be Casas Grandes pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries illustrating the prehistoric source of inspiration for this “complex and delicate artistic tradition .. producing some of the world’s finest contemporary ceramics.” Contact: The Field Museum (312-922-9410), 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/mataortiz_tempexhib.htm
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: April 22 – Aug 13, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago will mount a major exhibition, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, of nearly a hundred pieces of prehistoric Casas Grandes pottery of unprecedented artistic quality. To give these pieces their prehistoric Pueblo cultural context, the exhibition will also show 50 pieces representing other major styles: Mimbres, Four-Mile Polychrome, Hohokam, Sityatki polychrome from the Hopi Mesas, and some large Tularosa and Socorro ollas (Anasazi not represented). Yale University Press will release in November a hardcover catalog of 192 pages and more than 140 color illustrations. The text by Richard Townsend, Curator of African and Amerindian Art, Art Institute of Chicago, will be supplemented with contributions by Ken Kokrda and Barbara Moulard. Richard Townsend writes of this exhibition:
Between A.D. 1200 and 1400 in the vast desert region that encompasses parts of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico, there flourished many ancient Indian communities whose diverse ceramic arts are considered among the most accomplished in the world. The visual tradition of this distinctive cultural area bears an unmistakable Southwestern character, readily distinguished from that of Mesoamerica to the south or the arts of the ancient Mississippian valley to the east. This will be the first major exhibition to explore, through works of the highest artistic order, the complex imagery of the Casas Grandes-Pakimé tradition of northwest Mexico in relation to the more archaeologically well-known and aesthetically appreciated styles of the American Southwest. Contrasting and comparing this powerful imagery will reveal as never before the exceptional achievement of Casas master potters, hitherto largely unknown to the public. Polychromatic designs of animals, both real and mythological, together with abstract human figures and geometries of remarkable variation, will be displayed to reveal their imaginative complexity.
Contact: Richard Townsend (312-443-3657), Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6110. rtownsend[at]artic.edu www.artic.edu
SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery from the private collection of musician Alan Case. While this collection contains some early pieces, it mainly shows the pottery art of Mata Ortiz from the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
June, 2005
Exhibitions
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: July 1, 2005 – May 31, 2006
The Field Museum will host an exhibition, Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortiz, showing more than 20 ollas donated to the Museum by Leo and Lois Damkroger. Also included will be Casas Grandes pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries illustrating the prehistoric source of inspiration for this “complex and delicate artistic tradition .. producing some of the world’s finest contemporary ceramics.” Contact: The Field Museum (312-922-9410), 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/mataortiz_tempexhib.htm
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: April 22 – Aug 13, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago will mount a major exhibition, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, of nearly a hundred pieces of prehistoric Casas Grandes pottery of unprecedented artistic quality. To give these pieces their prehistoric Pueblo cultural context, the exhibition will also show 50 pieces representing other major styles: Mimbres, Four-Mile Polychrome, Hohokam, Sityatki polychrome from the Hopi Mesas, and some large Tularosa and Socorro ollas (Anasazi not represented). Yale University Press will release in November a hardcover catalog of 192 pages and more than 140 color illustrations. The text by Richard Townsend, Curator of African and Amerindian Art, Art Institute of Chicago, will be supplemented with contributions by Ken Kokrda and Barbara Moulard. Richard Townsend writes of this exhibition:
Between A.D. 1200 and 1400 in the vast desert region that encompasses parts of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico, there flourished many ancient Indian communities whose diverse ceramic arts are considered among the most accomplished in the world. The visual tradition of this distinctive cultural area bears an unmistakable Southwestern character, readily distinguished from that of Mesoamerica to the south or the arts of the ancient Mississippian valley to the east. This will be the first major exhibition to explore, through works of the highest artistic order, the complex imagery of the Casas Grandes-Pakimé tradition of northwest Mexico in relation to the more archaeologically well-known and aesthetically appreciated styles of the American Southwest. Contrasting and comparing this powerful imagery will reveal as never before the exceptional achievement of Casas master potters, hitherto largely unknown to the public. Polychromatic designs of animals, both real and mythological, together with abstract human figures and geometries of remarkable variation, will be displayed to reveal their imaginative complexity.
Contact: Richard Townsend (312-443-3657), Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6110. rtownsend[at]artic.edu www.artic.edu
SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery from the private collection of musician Alan Case. While this collection contains some early pieces, it mainly shows the pottery art of Mata Ortiz from the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
March, 2005
¶ SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), Curator of Latin American Collections, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101 gjohnson[at]museumofman.org
¶ GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery from the private collection of musician Alan Case. While this collection contains some early pieces, it mainly shows the pottery art of Mata Ortiz characteristic of the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case[at]geneseo.edu
¶ LAKEWOOD, CO: September 13 – May 3, 2005
The Lakewood Heritage Center is hosting as one of the first shows in their new building the traveling exhibition, "Ancient Inspiration: The Pottery of Mata Ortiz." Featured are more than 100 selected pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery from the private collection of Bill and Sue Hensler, of Dolores, Colorado. Included in the exhibit are text and photo panels presenting the prehistoric and contemporary context of Mata Ortiz art. A large collection of miniatures appeals especially to children. "Mata Ortiz Today," the authoritative video documentary by University of New Mexico associate professor of art Bill Gilbert shows continuously. The Center store, the "20th Century Emporium," offers a broad selection of pottery for sale. On Thursday, October 14, at 6 p.m., the Henslers will present a slide talk to which the public is invited. On October 16 and November 11, the Center will conduct free family “Treasure Hunts” through the exhibition. Parents are invited to bring their children. Educational materials will be provided.
This charming exhibition with a personal touch premiered at the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Blanding, Utah in 2001 (they called it their longest running and best received exhibition ever), then toured to the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO; the Anasazi Heritage Center, Dolores, Colorado; and the Farmington Museum in Farmington, New Mexico. Hours are Monday-Saturday 8-5. Admission free. Contact Niña Johnson (303-987-7874), Manager of Heritage, Culture and the Arts, The Lakewood Heritage Center, 801 S. Yarrow, Lakewood, CO 80226. ninjoh[at]lakewood.org http://www.lakewood.org/
August, 2004
¶ SAN DIEGO, CA: Ongoing
The Wells Fargo Bank at 4th and B is hosting indefinitely an exhibit of Mata Ortiz pottery from the collection of the San Diego Museum of Man. Approximately 20 pieces are shown, including five by Juan Quezada. Contact Grace Johnson (619-239-2001), San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, San Diego CA 92101
¶ GENESEO, NY: Ongoing
The School of Performing Arts, State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, has mounted in the lobby of Brogie Hall on Park Street a permanent exhibition of 130 pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery from the private collection of musician Alan Case. While this collection contains some early pieces, it mainly shows the pottery art of Mata Ortiz characteristic of the mid 1990's. Contact Alan Case (585-243-4616) by phone or, best, by email at case@geneseo.edu
¶¶ ALBUQUERQUE, NM: May 9 – September 26
An exhibition at the Albuquerque Museum has an exhibition, "From Above: Images of a Storied Land–Aerial Photographs by Adriel Heisey," that includes half-a-dozen low-altitude, aerial color photos of the ruins of Paquimé at Casas Grandes. This is exceptional photographic art. Bersides Casas Grandes, the exhibit covers landscapes and archaeological sites over the American Southwest. Color catalog $24.95 from the Albuquerque Museum Bookstore (505-242-0434). Museum hours: 9-5 Tue-Sun, closed holidays. Admission $4, discounts for NM residents, seniors, and children (under 3 free); and first Wednesday each month free to all. Located in Old Town, exit I-40 at Rio Grande. Contact the Museum (505-243-7255; for recorded information 242-4600), 2000 Mountain Road NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104. http://www.cabq.gov/museum
¶ ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA: May 18 – August 9
The Mayo Clinic is hosting “Mata Ortiz Pottery,” an exhibition of approximately 50 pieces selected from the
collection of Drs. Corey and Kathy Raffel. The exhibition is sponsored by the Mayo Clinic Center for Humanities in
Medicine and the Fuad Mansour Fund for the Promotion of Peace and Cultural Diversity. It is being held at the Mayo
Clinic in the Siebens Building, Subway level and the International Center, Mayo Building, Lobby level. Contact Elizabeth A. Curry (507-266-3378 Curry.Elizabeth@mayo.edu), Coordinator, or Kathy Raffel (raffel.kathleen@mayo.edu), Mayo Clinic Center for Humanities in Medicine, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN 55905.
¶ LAKEWOOD, CO: September 13 – May 3, 2005
The Lakewood Heritage Center will host as one of the first shows in their new building the traveling exhibition, "Ancient Inspiration: The Pottery of Mata Ortiz." Featured will be more than 100 selected pieces of Mata Ortiz pottery from the private collection of Bill and Sue Hensler, of Dolores, Colorado. On September 17, 5-7 p.m., there will be an opening reception at which Bill and Sue will give a walk-through. Included in the exhibit will be text and photo panels presenting the prehistoric and contemporary context of Mata Ortiz art. The original selection of pottery is being extensively updated and enlarged for this showing and will include an expanded collection of miniatures intended especially to appeal to children. "Mata Ortiz Today," the authoritative video documentary by University of New Mexico associate professor of art Bill Gilbert will show continuously. A broad selection of pottery will be offered for sale at the Center store, the "20th Century Emporium." On Thursday, October 14, at 6 p.m., the Henslers will present a slide talk to which the public is invited. On October 16 and November 11, the Center will conduct free, family “Treasure Hunts” through the exhibition. Parents are invited to bring their children. Educational materials will be provided.
This charming exhibition with a personal touch premiered at the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Blanding, Utah in 2001 (they called it their longest running and best received exhibition ever), then toured to the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO; the Anasazi Heritage Center, Dolores, Colorado; and the Farmington Museum in Farmington, New Mexico. Hours will be Monday-Saturday 8-5. Free admission. Contact Niña Johnson (303-987-7874), Manager of Heritage, Culture and the Arts, The