Art Pottery Collectors Prepare For AAPA Convention

Art pottery collectors from across the country are preparing to make their way to Cleveland this week for the much-anticipated annual American Art Pottery Association convention, show and auction.

The highlight of the five-day mega-event will be the two-day pottery show and sale being held Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25 at the Holiday Inn-Cleveland South, located at I-77 and I-480. More than forty art pottery dealers from around the United States will be bringing their best merchandise to this heralded show and sale.

In addition to featuring both American and European vintage art pottery, the AAPA show will also include the work of contemporary potters as well.

The event opens to convention registered members for a private viewing and sale on Saturday from 11:00am – noon. The show and sale will be open to the general public from Noon – 5:00pm Saturday, and from 11:00am – 4:00pm Sunday. Admission is $6.00 per person for non-convention registered members and the general public. Activities scheduled as part of the show include hourly prizes and “Booth Chats” on both days, plus a pottery identification table on Sunday. Showcase exhibitions will compliment several seminar topics, featuring pottery by Charles Clewell, luster pottery from Pewabic and other makers, and Cowan Pottery “From Arts and Crafts to Art Deco.”

The convention will also include an art pottery auction, featuring several hundred lots of vintage and contemporary art pottery, on Friday, April 23rd at 5:30 PM at the headquarters hotel. The auction will be conducted by Greg Belhorn of Belhorn Auction Services, LLC. The auction preview will begin at 3:30 PM, with the book signing event starting at 4:00 PM.

The keynote presentation at the annual reception and banquet on the evening of April 21st will be given by Stephen Harrison, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Curator of Decorative Art & Design. The museum is undergoing both a magnificent restoration and expansion, led by internationally known architect Rafael Vinoly. Mr. Harrison will discuss this transformation and give his perspective on the design of the newly reinstalled galleries, which emphasize an intentional blend of art media, including decorative arts.

The three seminars feature a notable roster of speakers.

Dr. Margaret Carney, ceramics historian and founding director of the Museum of Ceramic Art at Alfred University, will discuss The Binns Medalists, the superstars of the ceramics world who have all been honored with the most prestigious award for excellence in ceramics.

Janet Smoak, Director of the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan, will discuss An Ohio Original: Charles Clewell, who over a 50-year career perfected a still mysterious process to encapsulate bisque pieces and oxidize them to create the rich blue and green patination for which he is so well known.

Melanie Bazil, an independent scholar on American ceramics and the Arts and Crafts Movement, and former director of the Pewabic Pottery Museum and Archives, will explore The Iridescent Glazes of Pewabic Pottery and Their Lustrous Influences in American Ceramics, a fusion of Persian, Byzantine and Oriental art in which Mary Chase Stratton transformed glaze history. Contemporary ceramic artist Paul Katrich will add his insight on other makers of luster pottery and their techniques.

For more information, please go to www.AAPA.info.

-bj