Page 1 - Oxford Public Library Winter 2021 Newsletter

Oxford Public Library News Winter 2021
Vol. 24, No. 3
www.MiOPL.org
Management Team & Board of Directors
Library Director & CEO Bryan J. Cloutier Administrative Assistant Mary Ann Dorda
Head of Adult Services Laura Fromwiller Head of Teen Services Rachael Quinn
Head of Youth Services Kim Burean
Head of Support Services Jackie Seimer
Building Superintendent Terry Brewer
President & Board Chair Kathy Hoeflein
Vice President
Tony Rizzo
Treasurer Lynn Royster Secretary
Julie Fracker Trustee DuAnne Cook Trustee Barbara Kriigel
Mission Statement
The Oxford Public Library provides access to the world, enriches the community, and promotes lifelong learning and enjoyment.
Transforming Tomorrow, Preserving our Past, & Enriching Lives Today
The Art of Pottery: History, Form
and Function
The earliest known pottery in existence today dates back to about 29,000 BC, and has in some form or another, played
a significant role in the development of civilization. Debuting January of 2022 and running through March of 2022, the Oxford Public Library will host The Art of Pottery: History, Form and Function.
On display in the Atrium Foyer, this exhibition will draw its influence from the American Arts and Crafts movement, Native American pottery, and the Chinese influence on very early English enamelware, Dutch Delftware and French Limoges porcelain, earthenware and stoneware.
Bridging the late 19th Century with the early 20th Century, the Ohio River Valley contributed perhaps the most significant influence in producing some of the finest early works of clay potteries in America. Michigan made its own mark in the Arts and
Crafts movement when Detroit’s Pewabic Pottery,
a ceramic studio and school that was co-founded by Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace James Caulkins, made its debut on the International stage in 1903. Paying special tribute to Pewabic Pottery’s excellence and rich heritage, this exhibition brings forward other contemporaries of Pewabic Pottery to show the many similarities in terms of their stylistic approach and in developing their masterful unique firing techniques that resulted in some of the most amazing color variations and textures in the world.
When we consider various forms of pottery today, we need to understand that clay is really the basis for all three mediums we have come to know, love
and collect. This exhibition really brings to light the commonalities among earthenware, stoneware and porcelain and that all three have a place at the table and deserve to be in this discussion together. Although there are commonalities among them, each do require varying formulations of clay, and do require being fired at different temperatures in a kiln, or very hot oven, to undergo a curing, drying or hardening process before use. Each variety, depending on the medium, might also undergo an additional finishing process known as glazing.
We invite you to join us on a journey filled with a colorful and intriguing timeline through stylistic form and function that highlights many notable contemporary American pottery. This exhibit focuses on many of the early American potteries: Weller Pottery, established in 1872 (Fultonham, Ohio); Rookwood Pottery, established in 1880 (Cincinnati, Ohio); Roseville Pottery Company, established in 1890 (Roseville, Ohio); Van Briggle Pottery, established in 1899 (Colorado Springs, Colorado); Zanesville Art Pottery, established
in 1900 (Zanesville, Ohio); Pewabic Pottery, established in 1903 (Detroit, Michigan); Nelson McCoy Pottery, established in 1910 (Zanesville, Ohio); Robinson-Ransbottom Pottery, established in 1920 (Roseville, Ohio); and Shawnee Pottery, established in 1937 (Zanesville, Ohio), but ties the history together with Western European examples as well. You will find details of the exhibit inside this copy of your newsletter, along with a robust list of programs that are centered around the art, culture and history that helps us tell the story of pottery in America.
Bryan J. Cloutier Director & CEO