Interactions in Clay: Contemporary Explorations of the Collection

Interactions in Clay involves four artists who have been commissioned to create new artworks in response to the collection at The Philadelphia Museum of Art. The artists, Ann Agee, Walter McConnell, Paul Sacaridiz, and Betty Woodman, will interact with historical work and spaces in order to discover new meanings and formal strategies in different galleries throughout the Museum's main building. These artists were chosen not only for their adventurous and experimental attitudes towards their chosen medium, but also for their mastery of the ceramic vocabulary. Their approaches allow for work grounded in concept, technique, and presentation, and offer the public a new context for seeing, interpreting, and experiencing an artwork, a collection, or the way they perceive a given space.

The Clay Studio, Philadelphia's Internationally recognized ceramic arts learning center, has developed this project in conjunction with Independence: The 44th Annual National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference (being held in Philadelphia March 31 – April 3, 2010). Two other venerable Philadelphia institutions are participating in addition to the museum; Eastern State Penitentiary and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.