Alice Cling facts for kids

Alice Williams Cling (born March 21, 1946) is a famous Navajo artist. She is known for making amazing pottery and ceramics. Her pots have special shiny colors like rich reds, purples, browns, and blacks. She changed pottery from just useful items into beautiful works of art. Many people say she is one of the most important Navajo potters of recent times.

Early Life

Alice Williams Cling was born on March 21, 1946. Her birthplace was Cow Springs, Arizona. This area is part of the Navajo Nation.

In 1966, Alice finished school. She graduated from the Intermountain Indian School. This school was in Brigham City, Utah.

Her Career as a Potter

Alice learned how to make pottery from her family. Her mother, Rose Williams, taught her. Her great aunt, Grace Barlow, also shared her skills.

The clay for her pots comes from the Black Mesa area in Arizona. Alice fires her pots outdoors. She uses juniper wood for the firing process. This special way of firing makes the clay's natural colors even brighter. Alice, her mother, and her aunt helped bring back traditional Navajo pottery.

Alice is a "coil potter." This means she builds her pots by stacking coils of clay. She was the first Navajo potter to use a smooth river stone to polish her pots. Before her, people traditionally used a corncob. Her pottery is seen as "non-utilitarian." This means it's made for art, not for everyday use. This was a big change for Navajo pottery.

In 1978, Alice's work was chosen by Joan Mondale. Joan Mondale was the wife of the Vice President. Alice's pottery was shown in the vice-presidential mansion in Washington, D.C.. In 2006, she received the Arizona Indian Living Treasures Award. Alice Cling's beautiful pottery is also part of the collection at the Smithsonian.

Personal Life

Alice learned her pottery skills from her mother, Rose Williams. Rose was also a master potter. Alice lived near her mother in Shonto, Arizona. Making art runs in their family. Alice's daughters are artists too. Her sisters, Sue Ann Williams and Susie Williams Crank, are also artists.

Alice married Jervis "Jerry" Cling after high school. They have four children. Today, she still works and lives in the Shonto-Cow Springs area in Arizona.

Collections

Alice Williams Cling's pottery can be found in many museums:

• Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, AZ
• Arizona State Museum, Tempe, AZ
• Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
• Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM
• Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
• Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS

Awards

• 2006: Arizona Indian Living Treasures Award

Selected Works

• Wedding Vase with Braided Handles at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1987
• Pot with Incised Geometric Decoration at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1988