Established in 1958 in southeastern Michigan as the Michigan Potters’ Association, the recently reorganized and renamed Michigan Ceramic Art Association has grown to a statewide organization dedicated to the following mission:

To promote and develop the ceramic arts and activities of every form to that end; to stimulate further community participation, awareness and appreciation of the ceramic arts as art forms; and to sponsor demonstrations, seminars, exhibitions and instruction for the personal and cultural improvement of the participants and the community.

Through the years our membership has increased from fewer than 20 to over 300 full- or part-time studio artists, artist/educators, students, gallery directors or owners, art associations, potters’ guilds and collectors. In recent years the board of directors has worked to extend services and membership to all parts of the state. As a result, we now have members in both peninsulas. The decision to rename the organization was made to reflect the fact that our membership includes sculptors, tile makers, and other connoisseurs of the ceramic arts, as well as potters.

To fulfill its mission throughout the state, the Michigan Potters’ Association sponsored exhibitions, workshops, and lectures in partnership with other organizations, and published a quarterly newsletter which served as a communication network between artists, students, educators, art organizations and all connoisseurs of the ceramic arts. MPA’s major exhibitions were those in the Michigan Ceramics series. MPA Ceramics 2002, which traveled to two different sites, was the twenty-first in this series. This exhibition has been the major ceramic show in the state and one of the few shows of its caliber nationally that is entirely controlled by artists. A juror from outside the state selected the pieces from slides and awarded $2500 in prizes after viewing the actual work. For MPA Ceramics 2002, there were two jurors, Georgia Strange, sculptor and Associate Professor, and John Goodheart, ceramic artist and Professor, both from Indiana University, Bloomington.

MPA also sponsored other exhibits, both juried and invitational. Recent shows included The Artful Cup at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, Earthly Delights, a garden sculpture invitational at Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester, Clay Dominant, a mixed-media competition at the Detroit Artists Market, and The MPA at the DIA, an exhibit of Michigan Ceramics purchase prize winners owned by the Detroit Institute of Arts, co-sponsored by MPA and the DIA.

Workshops, lectures and panel discussions sponsored or co-sponsored by MPA have covered a wide range of subjects from ceramic techniques and history to running a business. The major educational event has been Michigan Mud, a one-day presentation of simultaneous demonstrations, slide lectures, and discussions featuring several Michigan artists and an out-of-state guest presenter. Due to popular demand, MI Mud 2003 has been expanded to two days, September 19 and 20, at The Henry Ford’s newly renovated Greenfield Village and conference center. This action-packed event features guest artist Peter Beasecker, renowned artist/educator from Southern Methodist University, and fourteen highly respected Michigan ceramists plus the staff of the Greenfield Village Pottery Shop. Demonstrations, slide lectures and discussions cover a variety of topics from forming through professional presentation of ceramic art.

As we evolve from the Michigan Potters’ Association into the Michigan Ceramic Art Association, our organization will continue to sponsor educational events and exhibitions which will fulfill our mission and to serve as a communication network for the ceramic community, largely through our web site.

The Michigan Ceramic Art Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and welcomes donations, which are tax-deductible. To fund our programs, we rely heavily on donations from individuals and businesses to augment dues collected from our members. Even more important, we rely on the generosity of artists who donate their time for workshops, on institutions who contribute space, materials and funds, and on a small group of dedicated volunteers who spend countless hours planning and implementing MCAA activities.