Virginia Cartwright facts for kids

Virginia Cartwright (born in 1943) is a talented American artist. She is known for creating beautiful objects from clay. Artists who work with clay are called ceramists.

About Virginia Cartwright

Virginia Cartwright was born in 1943. She grew up in Pasadena, California, in the United States. From a young age, she showed an interest in art. She decided to study ceramics, which is the art of making things from clay.

Her Education and Training

Virginia went to several special schools to learn her craft. She earned her first degree from California State University, Long Beach. Later, she got a master's degree from the School for American Craftsmen at Rochester Institute of Technology. There, she learned from a famous artist named Frans Wildenhain.

She also attended workshops at places like Pond Farm and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. These places are known for teaching art and crafts. She learned many different ways to work with clay.

How She Creates Art

When Virginia first started her career, she mostly used a pottery wheel. This is a spinning machine that helps shape clay into round objects like bowls or vases. She worked on the wheel for about four years.

After that, she started using other methods. She began to create pieces by hand. This is called hand-building. She also used a technique called slab-building. This involves flattening clay into sheets, or "slabs," and then joining them together. Most of her early works were useful items. These are called utilitarian works.

Her Art in Museums

Virginia Cartwright's artwork is very special. Her pieces are displayed in important art museums. This means her work is recognized as significant art.

Some of the museums that own her art include:

• The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
• The Smithsonian American Art Museum

Having her work in these museums shows how important her contributions are to the world of ceramic art.