MUSEUMS
We hope this listing of museums with pottery in their collections will be of help to you. We do not claim to have listed all museums in this category. If you know of a museum or venue in your area with pottery exhibitions or collections others should be aware of, please contact us at webmaster@aapa.info. Many institutions have important examples of American art pottery in their permanent collections, but not all keep these pieces on permanent display. We suggest calling ahead for current hours and special exhibitions.
Catalina Island Museum
Avalon, California
The museum has an extensive collection of the pottery and tile that was produced on the island between 1927 and 1937. Events include an annual Silent Film Benefit in June, Catalina Pottery & Tile Extravaganza and Exhibit during the month of September
www.catalina.com/museum.html
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles, California
The Decorative Arts and Design collection contains silver and other metalwork, ceramics, glass, and woodwork (mostly furniture). It is divided into three principal areas, European, American, and modern and contemporary, ranging in date from the medieval period (about 1200) to the present day.
www.lacma.org
Oakland Museum of California
Oakland, California
The museum's display of California crafts is notable for art pottery, ceramics and glass and metalwork.
COLORADO
Kirkland Museum
Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art, Denver, Colorado
An article on the Kirkland Museum appears in our November/December 2006 issue of the Journal.
www.kirklandmuseum.org
Pioneer Museum
215 S. Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO
The museum has the largest publicly held collection of Van Briggle in the world!
www.cspm.org
FLORIDA
Charles Morse Museum of American Art
Winter Park, Florida
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art houses the world's most comprehensive collection of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) including Tiffany jewelry, pottery, paintings, art glass, leaded-glass windows, lamps, and the chapel interior he designed for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Museum's holdings include a major collection of American art pottery and representative collections of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century American paintings, graphics, and decorative arts.
www.morsemuseum.org
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida
Exhibition: "Beauty in Common Things" October 4, 2008 - February 15, 2009 - An exhibition of over 80 pieces of American Art Pottery from the Collection of the Two Roses Foundation.
ILLINOIS
Chicago Historical Society
Chicago, Illinois
The Decorative Arts Collection is especially strong in decorative arts produced in Chicago during the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth centuries. Highlights include Teco pottery, Kalo silver, strained glass designed by Frank Lloyd Wright , Louis Sullivan and George Maher, and furniture by Wright and others.
www.chicagohs.org
Krannert Art Museum, located on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a unit within the College of Fine and Applied Arts, opened its doors in 1961, establishing a permanent home for the University's existing collection of fine art.
An article on the Krannert Art Museum appears in our March/April 2003 issue of the Journal.
www.kam.uiuc.edu
INDIANA
Art Museum of Greater Lafayette
Lafayette, Indiana
Founded in 1909 as the Lafayette Art Association by former Rookwood potter Laura Ann Fry, the Permanent Collection of the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette centers on 19th and 20th century American art with a special focus on art of Indiana.
www.glmart.org
The Midwest Museum of American Art
Elkhardt, Indiana
The Midwest Museum of American Art is located in the center of downtown Elkhart, Indiana in a beautifully renovated neo-classical style bank building. The Midwest Museum of American Art is a showcase of the 19th and 20th century American Art, with original paintings by Grandma Moses and Norman Rockwell. Along with the original Norman Rockwell the Midwest Museum houses a large collection of hand signed lithographs by this famous American artist. In all, the permanent collection numbers over 2,500 works with at least 600 on display at any time during the Midwest Museum's 52 week year.
The R. Douglas & Barbara Grant Family Gallery now contains the worlds largest public collection of Art Pottery. In addition, the expanded gallery also contains important ceramic works by other Indiana artists including Brown County pottery and works by Karl Martz.
www.midwestmuseum.us
Overbeck Pottery
Cambridge City, Indiana
Overbeck Pottery, produced between 1911 and 1955, is recognized as an important part of our national art history. The museum preserves the creative art of the six Overbeck sisters who lived and worked in Cambridge City, Indiana
LOUISIANA
New Orleans Museum of Art
New Orleans, Louisiana
The second greatest area of concentration is American art pottery from circa 1880 to 1960, with notable strengths in the areas of Newcomb, Rookwood and Fulper Pottery. The collection numbers about 800 examples representing the production of American art pottery from coast to coast.
www.noma.org
The Louisiana State Museum
Located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "Wonderful collection of on line information on Newcomb Pottery, includes history and photographs. Contact museum for information on collections currently on view."
http://lsm.crt.state.la.us
MASSACHUSETTES
Dedham Historical Society
Dedham, Massachusetts
The museum houses a distinguished collection of furnishings and artifacts ranging from pre-Columbian stone tools and the 1652 Metcalf great chair (oldest dated American-made chair, pictured below), to an excellent collection of Dedham and Chelsea pottery. On exhibit are several rare and important clocks including one of only two known "astronomical shelf clocks" by Simon Willard.
www.dedhamhistorical.org
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Boston, Massachusetts
Arts and Crafts pottery by Chelsea Keramic Art Works, Gureby, Rookwood, the Saturday Evening Girls, and Newcomb.
www.mfa.org
MICHIGAN
Cranbrook Academy of Art - Art Museum
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Major collection of work from The Arts and Crafts Movement of the early 20th century through to contemporary, design and craft of the present day, including the work of Mary Chase Stratton Perry and Pewabic Pottery, and the nation's second largest collection of ceramics by Adelaide Grotell.
www.cranbrook.edu
Pewabic Pottery
Detroit, Michigan
As a National Historic Landmark Pewabic Pottery is open 7 days a week, free to visitors. Pottery from the late 1800's through the present, including Ohio potteries as well as other potteries around the country. Website includes maps of Detroit area tile installations.
www.pewabic.com
MISSISSIPPI
Ohr-Okeefe
Biloxi, Mississippi
The Museum’s collection of Ohr pottery was undamaged during Hurricane Katrina and was removed for further safe-keeping to the vault of the Mobile Museum of Art. We are most grateful to the museum staff and board for their generosity in sharing their facilities with us.
As of August 16, 2006, George Ohr’s pottery came home to Mississippi The collection will remain in a safe location in the northern part of the state until it can once again take up residence on the new, completed campus of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art.
Visitors to the museum’s transitional location at 1596 Glenn Swetman Street will be able to see approximately thirty pieces of George Ohr’s work.
www.georgeohr.org
Walter Anderson Museum of Art
Ocean Springs, Mississippi
A visit to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA), opened in 1991 in historic Ocean Springs, MS, is an enchanting and unique experience. WAMA is dedicated to the celebration of the works of Walter Inglis Anderson (1903-1965), American master, whose depictions of the plants, animals, and people of the Gulf Coast have placed him among the forefront of American painters of the Twentieth Century; and to his brothers, Peter Anderson (1901-1984), master potter and founder of Shearwater Pottery; and James McConnell Anderson (1907-1998), noted painter and ceramist.
The watercolors, drawings, oils, block prints, ceramics, and carvings by the three Anderson brothers are all represented in the museum’s permanent collection. Diverse changing exhibitions, many featuring the work of other significant artists, occur throughout the year.
www.walterandersonmuseum.org
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Currier Museum of Art
Manchester, New Hampshire
Edwin and Mary Scheier taught at the University of New Hampshire from 1940 to 1968. Learn about the artist-couple that spent three decades in Durham while redefining the American studio pottery movement and influenced artists throughout the world.
www.currier.org
NEW JERSEY
Potteries of Trenton Society
Members visiting the area should check the website for information on exhibitions plus directions for a driving tour of tile installations, etc.
www.potteriesoftrentonsociety.org
The Newark Museum
Newark, New Jersey
Of singular importance is the museum's collection of American art pottery one of the best-documented and most comprehensive collections in the country. It consists of works by renowned potters from Fulper to Van Briggle and features an extensive collectioin of New Jersey ceramics, reflecting the state's historic role in this industry.
www.newarkmuseum.org
The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms
Craftsman Farms, located in and owned by the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, is the former home of noted turn-of-the-century designer Gustav Stickley, a major proponent of the "Arts and Crafts" home building and furnishing. The log house, built in 1911, is one of the most significant landmarks of the American Arts and Crafts movement, and the site, which consists of 26 acres of the original 650-acre tract, has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
www.stickleymuseum.org
Click to view some images from this museum.
NEW YORK
Everson Museum of Art
Syracuse, New York
The ceramics collection of the Everson is widely recognized for its magnitude and magnificence.
Currently one of the largest holdings of American ceramics in the nation, the Everson's collection can be attributed to the decisions made by Carter in the early 20th century. After the initial purchase of Robineau porcelains in 1916, the Everson acquired more of her artworks. Then, in 1932, the Ceramic National exhibitions were established at the Museum in her memory.
An important series of exhibitions that ultimately changed the public opinion on ceramics (from craft to art form), the Ceramic Nationals enabled the Everson to amass a singular collection of American ceramics produced during the past seven decades. Today, the collection of American ceramics numbers over 4,000 pieces that range in date from 1000 AD to the present, from works by ancient Americans of the Southwest to the most cutting-edge examples by contemporary artists.
The American Art Pottery collection, a diverse grouping of over 2,000 pieces, includes both hand-crafted ceramics and examples of commercial ware. The Everson has exemplary works by most of the major potters, including Robineau, Rookwood, Fulper, Grueby, Tiffany, George Ohr, Newcomb and Marblehead.
www.everson.org
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, New York
The collection of American decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum extends in date from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century and includes approximately 12,000 examples.
www.metmuseum.org
NORTH CAROLINA
Mint Museum of Art
Charlotte, North Carolina
The Decorative Arts collection provides the published with an understanding of the cohesion among artisans around the world. From English cream ware and Chinese porcelain, to American art pottery, and it own North Carolina ceramic heritage, the Mint Museum has one of the most impressive ceramics collections in North America.
www.mintmuseum.org
OHIO
Baggs Memorial Library
Columbus, Ohio
The Baggs Collection includes an extensive library on ceramics and ceramics-related material, including a large collection of ceramic objects.
http://library.osu.edu/sites/baggs/
Cincinnati Art Museum
Located in scenic Eden Park, the Cincinnati Art Museum features an unparalleled art collection of more than 60,000 works spanning 6,000 years. The museum has one of the largest collections of Rookwood Pottery in the United States, shown as a rotating and permanent exhibit. Check with the Museum for details. In addition to displaying its own broad collection, the Art Museum also hosts several national and international traveling exhibitions each year.
www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org
Cowan Pottery Museum at Rocky River Public Library (NEW)
Rocky River, Ohio
The variety and beauty of Cowan Pottery and of the artists associated with R. Guy Cowan's pioneering effort of the 1920s add much deserved luster to the legend of this visionary designer and mentor of art and craft. The work of the Cowan Studio itself and of the later works of its artists are now on display in the Cowan Gallery.
http://www.rrpl.org/cowan/index.html
National Road Zane Grey Museum
Norwich, Ohio
This modern museum has three major exhibit areas. First is the National Road, early America's busiest land artery to the West. A 136 foot diorama of the National Road plus many objects illustrate this theme.
Second is Zane Grey, the "Father of the Adult Western." The Zanesville author wrote more than 80 books. His study is recreated plus many manuscripts and other memorabilia are displayed.
Finally, a central portion of the museum is devoted to Ohio art pottery.
www.ohiohistory.org/places/natlroad/
Ohio Ceramic Center
Crooksville, Ohio
The Ohio Ceramic Center is a museum devoted to the display of ceramics wares produced in east central Ohio. Potteries represented: Alpine, Brush, Burley Winter, Cookson, Crooksvile China Company, Friendship, Gonder, Hull, LePere, Longaberger, McCoy, Queen, Robinson-Ransbottom, Rockingham, Roseville, Shawnee, Star Stoneware, Ungemach, Watt and Weller.
www.ohiohistory.org./places/ohceram/
Zanesville Museum of Art
The Zanesville Museum of Art located in Zanesville, Ohio, features: Extensive collections of Ohio art pottery; American paintings, prints, and sculpture including paintings by Albert Bierstadt, William Merritt Chase, George Luks, and Theodore Robinson; 17th-19th century Dutch, English, and Italian paintings and prints; Asian and Indian decorative arts; Madame Alexander Doll Collection; Traveling Exhibitions; Research Library; Art classes for adults and children; Auditorium and classrooms and Museum Gift Shop.
Click link to access photographs of a sampling of the exhibits to be seen at the Zanesville Museum of Art
OKLAHOMA
Frankoma Pottery - NEW MUSEUM
Sapulpa, OK
On display is several thousand pieces of Frankoma pottery covering their entire 75 year history. The collection is on loan from Ray and Sherry Stoll who have collected more than 5,000 pieces of Frankoma pottery.
In addition to the museum, we are celebrating our 75th anniversary with some new products and other events.
www.frankoma.com
PENNSYLVANIA
Moravian Pottery and Tileworks - Mercer Museum
The Moravian Pottery & Tile Works is a working history museum producing tiles and mosaics in a manner similar to that employed by Henry C. Mercer. The Tile Works displays may of these fine works of craftsmanship.
Click here to see images of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works - Mercer Museum
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
One of the nation’s great artistic and historic resources, the Museum houses more than 225,000 objects spanning the creative achievements of the Western world since the first century and those of Asia since the third millennium BC.
www.philamuseum.org
TEXAS
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The collection of the MFAH numbers more than 56,000 works of art, encompassing works in all media from all over the world, from the Stone Age to the present day. The museum now ranks as the fifth largest in exhibition space in the United States, with a total of 300,000 square feet devoted to the display of art.
www.mfah.org
Click here to download a pdf of a Press Release from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
First Look at a Major February 2008 Acquisition; The Scholar’s Eye: Contemporary Ceramics from the Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection