RELEASED: March 20, 2003

DANVILLE, KY—Centre College has acquired a collection of contemporary pottery that includes works from more than 100 artists. The collection, given by an anonymous donor, is valued at $28,000, and it contains approximately 275 pieces of functional forms such as teapots, ewers, covered jars and vases.

The majority of the pottery works were created during the past five years by leaders in the field of American functional ceramics including Warren McKenzie, Michael Simon, Linda Sikora and Dan Anderson. The pitcher shown in the photo was made by Jeff Oestreich and the flask was made by Matt Long.

The Centre College art program plans to exhibit pieces from this collection during the spring of 2004 at the AEGON Gallery. After the exhibit closes, pieces from the collection will be displayed across campus on a rotating basis.

Judith Pointer Jia, assistant professor of art and head of the ceramics program at Centre, said, "This is a wonderful gift. It's a great collection to teach from due to the variety of forms and number of artists represented. Art teachers often have to show slides as examples of artwork. Now because of this generous gift, the students are granted the rare opportunity to study and appreciate the actual objects."

Dean John Ward, who assisted Professor Jia in assessing and receiving the collection, is delighted with the gift: "The collection will help us teach students by offering them fine examples of the best contemporary work. At the same time, the community here at Centre will get to know more about the variety and beauty of contemporary ceramic art by seeing the collection displayed in the Jones Visual Art Center or the new library."

For more on Centre's art program, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/academic/majors/art.html.

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