American Museum of Ceramic Art facts for kids
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front entrance of AMOCA
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| Established | 2003 |
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| Location | 399 N. Garey Ave Pomona, California 91767 |
| Type | Art Museum |
| Collections | Ceramics, Sculpture |
| Founder | David Armstrong |
| Architect | Benjamin Hall Anderson |
| Public transit access | Pomona–Downtown |
The American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) is an art museum located in Pomona, California. It focuses on ceramic art, which is art made from clay and then fired.
AMOCA started in 2003 as a nonprofit organization. This means it's a group that uses its money to help people, not to make a profit. The museum shows both old and new ceramic artwork. It has a huge collection of over 10,000 pieces. It also features special exhibits that change often.
Contents
Discovering AMOCA's History
The American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) was founded in Pomona, California in 2003. A businessman and ceramic artist named David Armstrong started it. AMOCA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
The museum first opened in a small storefront in Pomona. In 2010, Armstrong bought a larger, two-story building. This building used to be the main office for a bank. It was designed by Benjamin Hall Anderson in 1956. The new building has a special mural inside. This mural was created by the artist Millard Sheets. The museum moved into this bigger building in 2011.
In 2014, Beth Ann Gerstein became the museum's executive director. She joined AMOCA after working for twenty years at The Society of Arts and Crafts of Boston. She took over from Christy Johnson, who retired in 2013. From 2004 to 2013, Johnson organized many different exhibitions. She also helped with a big art project called Pacific Standard Time. For this, she created a popular exhibition called Common Ground: Ceramics in Southern California (1945-1975).
How the Museum Began
David Armstrong, who founded the museum, moved to Pomona, California, in 1944. His father opened a furniture and appliance store there. David Armstrong went to Pomona College and graduated in 1962. While studying, he also learned about ceramics from artist Paul Soldner. Soldner taught at nearby Scripps College.
In 1969, Armstrong changed his family's furniture store. It became Armstrong's Gallery. This gallery sold special ceramic items. It focused on porcelain figurines and collector plates.
Armstrong started making porcelain collector plates in the early 1970s. In 1975, he worked with comedian Red Skelton. Skelton was also a painter known for drawing clowns. For 27 years, Armstrong made and sold Red Skelton's limited edition ceramic items. He used special ceramic decals fired onto porcelain. Armstrong also made ceramic baseball cards and plaques. He often added fancy gold borders to collector plates.
In 1993, he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree. He focused on ceramics and studied again with Paul Soldner. Around the year 2000, Armstrong's gallery started focusing on modern studio ceramics. He closed Armstrong's Gallery in 2014 to spend all his time on AMOCA.
Amazing Art Collections
AMOCA has a permanent collection of over 10,000 pieces. This collection includes many types of ceramics. You can see California pottery and ceramics from Southern California. There are also old Mettlach ceramics and industrial ceramics. The museum has ancient vessels from the Americas. It also displays beautiful porcelains from Asia and Europe. You can find both useful and artistic modern ceramics too.
The Mettlach Collection
AMOCA's Mettlach collection was given by Robert D. and Colette D. Wilson. They collected Mettlach pieces for 30 years. AMOCA has over 3,000 Mettlach items. This is one of the biggest collections of Mettlach pottery in the world. These pieces date from about 1840 to 1915. The museum regularly shows hundreds of these pieces on its lower level.
Robert Wilson was born in Southern California. He started collecting antiques at age thirteen. He began collecting Mettlach steins at the start of World War II. Colette Wilson, also from Southern California, helped start the Royal Worcester collection. This collection was also given to AMOCA by the couple. The Wilson collection was first shown at AMOCA in October 2012. At the opening, Isabella von Boch said it was the largest collection of its kind. Her family now manages the Villeroy & Boch, Mettlach Factory.
Panorama of the Pomona Valley Mural
The museum building used to be a bank. The bank asked Millard Sheets to create a large mural for the inside. Sheets worked with Susan Lautmann Hertel on this project. The mural is 78 feet long and is called Panorama of the Pomona Valley. It was painted in 1956 and is now part of AMOCA's collection.
Sheets and Hertel showed the history of the valley in the mural. It starts with Native American people. Then it shows the arrival of the railroad. Finally, it shows Pomona becoming a city in 1888. Sheets was an art professor and painted many public murals. He created works for buildings in Los Angeles County. Susan Lautmann Hertel was a painter and designer. She worked with Sheets at his design company. She took over the company after he retired in the 1970s.
Special Exhibitions
AMOCA often hosts special exhibitions. These shows highlight different ceramic artists and styles. Here are some past exhibitions:
- Inferno: The Ceramic Art of Paul Soldner. (2004)
- Robert Sperry, Bright Abyss, a show with 90 works by ceramist Robert Sperry. (2008)
- Harrison McIntosh: A Timeless Legacy, a show about Harrison McIntosh. (2009)
- Common Ground: Ceramics in Southern California 1945–1975. This show was part of Pacific Standard Time. It looked at the clay art community in Los Angeles after World War II. (2011)
- Patti Warashina: Wit and Wisdom, a show about American artist Patti Warashina. (2012)
- ICHEON: Reviving the Korean Ceramics Tradition. This show was organized by Icheon, South Korea. It featured over 200 objects. These showed Korea's ceramic history, which began over 5,000 years ago. It included old techniques and new ideas. (2013)
Other exhibitions have shown artwork by many famous artists. These include Peter Voulkos, Betty Woodman, Beatrice Wood, and Don Reitz. The museum has also shown objects from companies like Gladding, McBean and Villeroy & Boch.
Other Cool Features
Ceramics Studio
AMOCA has a large ceramics studio. It is 12,000 square feet! This studio offers many activities. It hosts workshops, lectures, and educational programs. These are for artists, students, and the public.
The studio has offered classes since 2011. Artists with experience can rent studio space. There are also chances for artists to live and work at the museum. Classes and workshops are available for all skill levels.
Resource Library
In 2010, AMOCA received a gift of 3,000 books. These books came from Helen and Roger Porter. The collection focuses on ceramics. It includes technical guides and books on ceramic art history. There are also catalogs from art shows around the world. The library also has about 4,000 other books and 2,000 magazines. These magazines date from 1883 to today.
