Story/photography by Patti Bourgeois, Terry Gerratana, Wendy Harvey, Sandie Fowler, Richard Sicha, Marcia Moll, and Mark Bassett
AAPA Convention 2007: Cleveland, Ohio
“Come early, stay late,” the Cleveland Convention Committee suggested in the registration brochure, so many of us did. Our registration packets included discount tickets to various cultural institutions, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and this was our opportunity. One couple visited the R & R Hall on Tuesday, anticipating spending no more than two hours there, but wisely and fortuitously chose the parking garage over a tempting meter. Almost 6 hours later, they helped lock up, when they left the Hall. Needless to say, they loved it!
Wednesday's Early Bird Tour
Wednesday afternoon found many of us joining a group of 40 eager conventioneers waiting for Lolley the Trolley in the lobby of the host hotel, the Holiday Inn in Independence, near the intersection of I-480 and I-77. As has become an AAPA tradition, each year’s convention is preceded by an “earlybird” activity. The Cleveland surprise was an old-fashioned tourist-style tour of downtown Cleveland and nearby neighborhoods. We could tell right away that this was going to be no ordinary AAPA Convention.
Despite the rain we were all thrilled to see old friends and meet new ones. Everyone was in good spirits, and the trolley was filled to capacity. After the driver passed out napkins (for wiping moist hot air from the windows), we all checked who our seat buddy was, and off we went. Patrick, the driver, narrated throughout the drive, and we all, of course, added our own comments along the way. In addition to seeing downtown Cleveland complete with great buildings, we also drove by the house where A Christmas Story was filmed. The house has been restored to look like it did in the movie complete with leg lamp. After careful study, we can now definitively say the leg was Rookwood faience. (VERY RARE… LOL!)
One stop was the West Side Market, complete with architectural faience columns depicting animals and fruits of the field, designed by Cleveland School of Art sculpture professor Herman Matzen. It was a toss up, however, as to what we looked at, because the entire marketplace was crowded with booths selling delectable meats, cheeses, pastries, breads, etc., etc., etc. In the interest of fair play we all attempted to buy one of everything.
Another favorite stop was the Cleveland Public Library, Carnegie West Branch, where we saw a Grueby fireplace originally intended for the children’s room. The fireplace had scenes from Alice in Wonderland and was spectacular! The tiles were mounted in an iron façade in such a way that they could be interchanged (decorating idea). The librarian said the records showed that originally there were several different stories, and the tiles could be switched. This set, she said, were the only ones that had survived. We suggested that we all join her in the basement just to double check and make sure that this was true. We also helpfully suggested that we would gladly take any shards that we might find down there off her hands in the interest of recycling. As if the fireplace wasn’t enough, this building also boasted a fabulous 21-tile Rookwood landscape frieze, which was a joy to peek at through the office window even if we couldn’t get close enough to touch.
Enthusiasm didn’t wane even as the day stayed rainy. We got a great overall look at the city and had fun talking, joking, laughing, and dripping together. Everyone agreed at the end of the day that the trolley tour was a hit.
Banquet
President Patti Bourgeois opened our official convention activities that night with a welcome and then introductions of Cleveland Convention Committee Co-chairs Marcia Moll and Richard Sicha, who received hearty applause for all their efforts and organization. Also among the many introductions and public thank-yous were committee members Arnie Small, Vice-President, AAPA Board; Mark Bassett, Member, AAPA Board; Sue Brown; Joanne Calkins; Laverne and Leonard Law; Vicky Naumann Peltz; Diane Cole (Registration); Nanci Ruhoff; Barbara Watson; and Bob and Sandi Woodward. During her address, President Bourgeois gave special recognition to member Greg Belhorn, auctioneer and Auction Committee chair, “for his services and for bringing our auction onto the Internet for the first time.”
This year the AAPA awarded a $1000 scholarship to Monica Leap, a senior ceramics major at Syracuse University, who attended our banquet to accept the award in person. She has exhibited in gallery shows in Ohio, Kentucky and Massachusetts. This year she had a solo show called Roots and Reflections at the Coyne Gallery in Syracuse, New York. She says, “I have two series of pottery. One series focuses on function; the pots in this series are simple and elegant. The second is narrative figural vessels … with painted, slip-decorated imagery. My work is a testimony to life. Fragments and reflections of moments, thoughts, and emotions are captured from daily living and transformed from the realm of the ephemeral to that of everlasting fired clay. Every moment can be an opportunity, a choice, or a reminder.” Monica brought some of her work, to be displayed during the show, and which included teapots, bowls, and sculpture.
Our keynote speaker was Michael Starinsky, Associate Director, Education Art Collection and Director of the Lifelong Learning Center at the Cleveland Museum of Art. His presentation was “Regional Artists and the Cleveland Museum of Art.” He brought along pieces from the Museum’s collection to display, including a Cowan pottery sculpture done in 1929 by Albert Drexler Jacobson, Introspection; former Cowan artist Walter Sinz’s ceramic sculpture Black Nymph, from 1937; WPA ceramist Edris Eckhardt’s The Walrus and the Carpenter, produced in 1941; a sgrafitto-decorated bowl by Esther Sills, made in 1942; the 1965 piece Moon Pot, by ceramist Paul Dominey; and a variety of other art, such as an enamel vase by Norman Magden, and WPA prints by Charles Sallee and Kalman Kubinyi.
Mr. Starinsky discussed the art and its regional connections. “Each piece is owned by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Many of the artists took lessons at the CMA, and some of them were teachers there. Most were students at the Cleveland School of Art (now known as the Cleveland Institute of Art), and several joined the faculty there. Some of them knew each other and worked together at these institutions or under the auspices of the WPA (Works Progress Administration, who ran the Federal Art Project to employ artists during and after the Great Depression). While some have achieved national and international renown and others did not, the major role that Cleveland and the CMA played in each of their careers is unquestionable. Significantly, each artist exhibited their works in the museum’s May Show, held annually from 1919 through 1993.” Read more of Mr. Starinsky’s comments about the May Show in a sidebar to this article.
Thursday Tour
Thursday is the traditional bus tour day at AAPA conventions, and 95 people boarded two buses early at the Holiday Inn, looking forward to a day of adventure. The Cleveland Committee had planned a tour that featured museum collections, building tours, and outdoor sculpture spanning the late 19th century through the present. Each bus even had a guide who provided commentary on the sites and local history and architecture.
The buses went their separate ways in the morning, which included several stops. Rocky River, Ohio, an early 20th century suburb just west of Cleveland, was one of the homes of the Cowan Pottery. More than a generation ago, the local library provided space for the establishment of the Cowan Pottery Museum. AAPA was the first group to tour the library’s newly renovated and enlarged space, dedicated just five days earlier. Curator Carol Jacobs and recently retired, long-time curator Sue Brown were both on hand. The pottery collection, now housed in custom-built cases on the main floor, is the showpiece of the facility. An additional treat was a chance to see a 1920’s Batchelder tile fireplace. Less than one-half mile away, the buses drove past the buildings that housed the showroom and workrooms of the Cowan Pottery from about 1919 through 1931 (tourgoers on one bus even staged a quick stop at an adjacent coffee shop)!
It was also a morning highlighting big 1950’s art by Viktor Schreckengost. The buses drove past the polychromed terra cotta Early Settler sculpture on the exterior of the Lakewood High School Civic Auditorium, and made a stop at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The display at the zoo included large, multicolored, terra cotta tiles depicting birds, removed from a zoo building prior to its demolition. The largest bird tiles, weighing several tons each, are safely in storage and awaiting reuse. The best part of the visit was the Pachyderm Building, whose front wall features the sculptures Mammoth and Mastodon, which are as big as the building. There was even some extra time to hobnob with the kangaroos, flamingos, and elephants.
For one bus, the quick trip to downtown Cleveland featured a scenic drive through the suburb of Lakewood and along the shore of Lake Erie. The other bus entered downtown from a different direction, getting a close look at the Cuyahoga River Valley and Cleveland’s most familiar landmark, the 1920’s Terminal Tower. The downtown bus route included 19th and 20th century buildings such as the white glazed terra cotta Standard Building, with its giant geometric “snowflakes” inspired by the Chicago School work of Louis Sullivan, and Daniel Burnham’s Group Plan of civic buildings.
En route to meeting for lunch at the Cleveland Institute of Art, both buses made another short drive along Lake Erie and through the Cultural Gardens, a three-mile linear park that contains large outdoor gardens designed, built, and maintained during the past century by Cleveland’s many ethnic groups. The CIA studios and gallery space for several disciplines are housed in a 1914 Ford automobile factory. Our extended lunch hour included tours of the Ceramics Department, courtesy of Professor Judith Salomon, and some impromptu buying mania created by an enterprising student!
Off on separate routes again, tourgoers explored the University Circle neighborhood, the cultural center of Cleveland, as well as nearby areas. At Severance Hall, the recently restored 1931 home of the Cleveland Orchestra, the guided tour featured the sumptuous Art Deco interiors, murals by Cleveland School artist Elsa Vick Shaw, and tile installations. Several AAPA members took photographs of the tilework and have volunteered to try and solve the mystery of the manufacturers.
The next stop was Lake View Cemetery, founded in 1869 on 285 acres of land and modeled after the great garden cemeteries of Victorian England and France. Lake View is the final resting place of Cleveland’s most wealthy and influential citizens, including oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, law enforcement agent Eliot Ness, and gas mask and traffic light inventor Garrett Morgan. The Garfield Monument, a large 
cylindrical stone building with a conical roof set on the high ground of the cemetery, was dedicated in 1890 to James Garfield, the 20th U.S. President. The exterior includes five large terra cotta panels representing stages of Garfield’s life, executed by noted 19th century sculptor Caspar Buberl. In contrast to the dark, stone exterior, the impressive interior glows with color from stained glass windows, mosaic tiles, and marble stairs.
Nearby, a stone building in the form of a classical temple, nestled on the bank of a large pond, held a spectacular surprise for the tourgoers. Wade Memorial Chapel (1900), built in honor of Jeptha Wade, founder of The Western Union Telegraph Company, has one of the few intact interiors designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The main window, a Favrile and stained glass tour-de-force purchased by a member of the Wade family at the 1900 Paris Exposition, became the focal point for an interior with walls covered in murals of glass tesserae. The docent wove a memorable narrative as he explained the iconography of the art. And in a true showing of local helpfulness, Dean Zimmerman, Chief Curator at the Western Reserve Historical Society left the tour briefly to accompany an AAPA member to locate the graves of family members in the cemetery.
In the late afternoon, the buses rejoined at the East Cleveland Public Library, located in the suburb of East Cleveland adjacent to University Circle. Everyone was amazed at the unique 27-tile Cowan fireplace surround 
illustrating scenes from the Robin Hood tales. The group was then welcomed by library director Gregory Reese and gathered in the new Performing Arts Center to watch the Viktor Schreckengost documentary Success by Design, a video record of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s retrospective exhibition about VS.
Although it was the end of the day, enthusiasm was riding high on the bus ride back to the Holiday Inn, as everyone chatted about their favorite part of the tour.
The May Show...a sidebar
Even before opening in 1916, the Cleveland Museum of Art played an important role in encouraging the local art community. In a January 6, 1914 report to the Board of Trustees, the museum’s first director, Frederic Allen Whiting, recommended the establishment of “an annual exhibition of Ohio born or trained artists.” Influenced by Whiting’s vision, The Cleveland Art Association exhibited the works of local artists in their Fifth Spring Exhibition, held at the CMA. That year the museum also officially stepped in and organized their First Annual Exhibition of Works by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen, from May 3 to June 29, 1919. It soon became nicknamed “The May Show.” For nearly 75 years this annual event would serve as a forum for highlighting the vitality, creativity, and variety of the arts in Cleveland.
Each year the museum recognized artistic achievement through a variety of awards, ranked certificates and medals, and honorable mentions for notable works. CMA directors selected May Show jurors, usually not associated with the museum, including museum directors, curators, art professionals, professors, and artists who were experts in their fields. Some of the more famous artists who served as jurors included George Bellows in 1921, Edward Hopper in 1932, Georgia O’Keefe in 1937, and Ansel Adams in 1963.
Especially between 1917 and 1958, the CMA’s annual May Shows gave artists and patrons a forum and temporary salesroom. During the earliest of those years, when fewer outlets than exist today were available for artists to show and sell their works, and especially during the Depression, artists appreciated this venue. Through the years the museum purchased numerous works of art. By means of its purchases, the museum demonstrated a commitment to nurturing artists, and many of them probably remained in the city, despite receiving national and international recognition for their work, because of this support. In addition, through its purchases, the museum preserved many exemplary works by local artists for future generations.
Dinner Excursions
Part of the fun of traveling is exploring the local food scene, and Cleveland did not disappoint! The local committee arranged transportation and reservations to six of Cleveland’s best restaurants, and fifty diners made their choices and set off on Thursday and Saturday nights.
It was a chance to visit some of Cleveland’s great neighborhoods, including East 4th Street, Warehouse District, Ohio City, and Shaker Square. The wide-ranging culinary offerings included Brazilian at Sarava, contemporary American at both Flying Fig and Fire, fresh seafood at Blue Point Grille, pub food and the award-winning libations at Great Lakes Brewery, and Lola, home of Cleveland’s-own Food Network chef, Michael Symon.
There were also sightings of AAPA members eating their way down Mayfield Road in Little Italy, and enjoying a meal at Treats, a restaurant near the Rocky River Public Library with its own large collection of Cowan pottery on display.
Seminars
The well-attended seminars at the convention offered an array of topics, and each one attracted an audience of at least 60 people. On Friday, Mark Bassett presented a well-researched and copiously illustrated overview of the artists of the Cleveland School, with a companion handout. Jo Cunningham, the doyenne of American dinnerware, combined personal stories about her research, a bit of pottery company gossip, and many images in her overview of Viktor Schreckengost dinnerware. Vicky Naumann Peltz offered a hands-on lesson in photographing ceramics. She focused her tips on lighting, backgrounds, and composition and provided an informative handout. Attendees looked through the viewfinder of a camera on a tripod to see the set-up for a quality photo. That afternoon, Greg Belhorn, this year’s Auction Chair and auctioneer, led a tip-filled session on auctions (no, rubbing your nose will not result in a purchase!)
Saturday morning, Jim Murphy was unable to attend to present his talk on archeological efforts at various Ohio pottery sites and the enlightening information that this work has uncovered (pun intended!), but Cleveland Committee member Len Law did an admirable job as his stand-in. Then Ralph and Terry Kovel held an informative and humorous hour-long conversation about collecting, the start of their book publishing empire, and their fabulous finds, and then became part of the throng of eager buyers at the show.
The panel discussion on Sunday, a first for an AAPA convention, allowed a fascinating glimpse into the museum world. After being treated to images of the collections at the Erie (PA) Art Museum, Western Reserve Historical Society, and Zanesville Art Center, John Vanco, Dean Zimmerman, and Susan Talbot-Stanaway discussed the mission of each organization and their unique situations in terms of handling accessions, deaccessions, and what it really might or might not mean when one donates an object to a museum. Dozens of attendees stayed to hear more, even though the show and sale had already opened before the conversation came to an end.
Auction
The opportunity to include eBay Live bidding during the 2007 auction was offered free to the AAPA by Greg Belhorn, of Belhorn Auction Services, LLC (www.belhorn.com). Greg’s generosity undoubtedly accounts for the aggressive winning bids and record-breaking results achieved during our largest annual fund-raiser (apart from membership dues) this year. His staff had packed everything in boxes identified by lot number, making setup a breeze. As usual, during the 4 pm preview, auction attendees were invited to purchase books and obtain autographs from the various pottery researchers and authors at the Convention.
Starting the auction at 6 pm at the host hotel, Greg and Peter Gehres took turns calling the 350+ lots in such a professional and relaxed manner that the standing-room-only crowd of 140 bidders remained engaged throughout. Checkout was a breeze, and for the first time, it included the acceptance of payment by credit cards. With volunteer members serving as handlers and packers, the entire room was cleared by 10:30, in time for a dozen mouths to be stuffed with pizza, delivered in time for everyone to feast while celebrating the successful event.
According to Greg, over 100 of those in attendance bid on at least one lot, and an additional 300 bidders participated via the Internet. In the end, about 27% of the winning bids went to Internet bidders, a somewhat lower figure than usual for Belhorn Auction Services, LLC. Practically all the few “reserve” items did sell at or above the reserve figure, and the auction grossed $65,616, with $13,707.34 going into the AAPA coffers, after deducting the fee related to credit-card payments by winning bidders. (Greg has already been asked and has agreed to conduct the auction for the 2008 AAPA Convention.) Bravo!
Some noteworthy hammer prices (not including the 10% buyer premium) include the following: a Rookwood Double Vellum 6” vase, decorated in 1927 with pine cones, needles and branches by Elizabeth Lincoln on a red, green and blue background, was the highest-priced sale, at $2000; several Rose Cabat feelies brought out competitive bidders, with a 3.5” feelie vase in matte green with golden beige highlights going for $1350, as did an early Saturday Evening Girls 5.5” bowl from 1910, decorated with three rabbits by artist Celia Goodman; several WPA era ceramic sculptures by Cleveland artists made a strong showing, led by a rare 6.75” figurine by Emilie Scrivens, titled “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” made for the Ohio Art Project, Cleveland, ca. 1938-1941, which sold for $1250; a Roseville Wisteria wall pocket in blue went for $1200; a pair of Cowan King and Queen decanters, designed by Waylande Gregory and decorated in Polychrome, took a high bid of $1000; and a Pillin 5.75” vase, decorated with three women and birds, sold for $650.
Show and Sale
After impressive press coverage in a variety of publications, supplemented by local, regional, and national paid advertising, everyone eagerly anticipated the Show & Sale, which opened with a Registered-Members “Only” Preview on Saturday morning at 11 am. That morning, the Akron Beacon Journal mentioned the conference on Page one and included a lengthy article on the front page of the Home Section. The Friday Magazine section of the previous day’s Cleveland Plain Dealer carried a profile by PD Art Critic, Steven Litt, in the form of an interview with Convention Co-Chairs Richard Sicha and Marcia Moll, and advertising the Show & Sale. On Wednesday, Patti Bourgeois and Mark Bassett had been featured in a relaxed conversation with interviewer and host Dee Perry on WCPN/National Public Radio’s “Around Noon” show.
For months, Convention Committee members had distributed cards 
to regional shops, auction houses, flea markets, and antique shows, in the hope of attracting the enthusiastic pottery-buying crowd for which the Cowan Pottery Museum Associates’ annual show (held during 2000-2004) was fondly remembered. During those five years, the CPMA attendance was always between 500 and 700. To the joy of both exhibitors and attendees, this year’s AAPA show & sale attendance almost reached the 700 mark, setting a record for the AAPA, with more than 100 registered participants, plus 472 paid show attendees on Saturday (some of whom returned the following day) and an additional 97 arriving on Sunday. Thus the incredible, wide-ranging displays of vintage American, European, and selected contemporary studio pottery were shared with an audience who greatly appreciates and admires ceramic art.
Visitors to the show were highly complimentary of the educational showcases assembled by volunteer AAPA members. One case of Modernist dinnerware designs by Viktor Schreckengost was carefully vetted by Craig Stephen Bara on behalf of the Viktor Schreckengost Foundation. Borrowing a varied assortment of ceramics from Committee members’ private collections, Nanci Ruhoff oversaw a showcase called “Cleveland Collects,” featuring objects from a Bennett cream pitcher to Roseville Futura to decorated Rookwood to Shearwater. But the most meticulously assembled cases were those put together with discernment and care by Art Lauterer and his partner Rusty Allen, on the topics of Cowan Pottery 
(a case sponsored by the Cowan Pottery Museum Associates, of www.cowanpottery.org) and Cleveland-School Ceramics. Both cases were labeled by artist and title, when possible, and these jam-packed displays featured rarities of nearly every color and style imaginable. Other welcome additions to the Show & Sale this year included a popular “Free Pottery ID’s” table and hourly Door Prizes, whereby winners were happy to take their choice of a free 1-year AAPA Membership, a reference book on American art pottery, or an educational VHS tape on that subject, produced by Ralph and Terry Kovel (of www.kovels.com).
As might be expected of a pottery show in Cleveland, exhibitors reported selling examples of Cowan Pottery and works by various “Cleveland School” artists. However, just to take a specific example, one exhibitor also reported selling an assortment of moderately priced European wares, a covered box by Minnesota studio potter Warren MacKenzie, and a moriage-decorated Japanese wall pocket, along with works by AMACO, Frankoma, Hyalyn, Kenton Hills, Peters and Reed, Red Wing, Roseville, and Zanesville Art Pottery. More than one exhibitor was heard to comment that the show was his or her most successful experience selling at an AAPA Convention. On Saturday, motivated shoppers continued to explore the displays and make purchases even a few minutes after the official closing hour! Nearly every dealer was also delighted with at least one special piece that was going home to the private cache! By the end of the weekend, several Board members were approached by dealers asking if the AAPA could come to Cleveland again “every year”—an enthusiastic response that shows just how successful most folks viewed the show & sale as being.
Business Meeting
Highlights include:
Introduction of new President Arnie Small and announcement of newly elected officers (Board List)
A new Membership Directory will be coming out this year
Treasurer’s Report will appear in the September/October Journal
Future website development includes both a general, public site and a password-protected, members-only site
Trustee Mark Bassett then presented three pottery pieces donated in honor of the AAPA from various members to three museum collections. An Ogontz Pottery vase made in Lakeside, Ohio (see James L. Murphy’s article in this issue) was donated by Jim to the Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland). A sgrafitto-decorated Avon pot designed by Frederick Hurten Rhead was donated by Barbara Gerr and Arnie Small to the AAPA, to be gifted to the Zanesville Art Center. And a hand-decorated ca. 1876 “Art Terra Cotta” wall plaque by Galloway and Graff (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was given by Mark Bassett to the Erie Art Museum. Having been invited to participate in a Roundtable Discussion on Building a Museum Collection of American Art Pottery, the Erie Art Museum director John Vanco, Zanesville Art Center director Susan Talbot-Stanaway, and WRHS chief curator Dean M. Zimmerman were present to accept these gifts. The event marked several additional firsts for Cleveland—our first AAPA Convention roundtable discussion and the first occasion when more than one gift of pottery was made to a museum during the AAPA Convention.
The convention’s local sponsors were also thanked, including the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, who provided partial funding, as well as Belhorn Auction Services, LLC, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland Public Library, Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland, Cowan Pottery Museum/Rocky River Public Library, East Cleveland Public Library, Golden Age Centers of Greater Cleveland, Ideastream – WVIZ-TV, Lake View Cemetery, Ralph and Terry Kovel, Severance Hall – The Cleveland Orchestra, Trolley Tours of Cleveland, and the Viktor Schreckengost Foundation.
As Patti Bourgeois remarked in presenting a special thank-you gift to Rick Sicha and Marcia Moll for their expert and dedicated organizational skills, the Cleveland Convention Committee raised the standard for AAPA Conventions by hosting such a wonderful event. Cleveland is truly a wonderful city to visit and enjoy, and the AAPA hopes to return there another year. Meanwhile, next year’s convention (it was announced) will take place on the East Coast, in the New York/Pennsylvania/New Jersey area.