Golden Clay: Fifty Years of the Brantford Potters’ Guild

January 18 – March 9, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 23, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Brantford

Curated by Matthew Ryan Smith

Christie Gruppe, Resilience II (2024), hand built mid-range clay with mixed media finishes.

In 1975, a group of six potters – Gillian Lewis, Kay Boyd, John Prosser, Utta Bein, Suzanne Welsby and Louise Garnett – gathered together in the Coach House at Glenhyrst Art Gallery and gave themselves a name: the Brantford Potters’ Guild. Incorporated as a non-profit organisation in 1978, the Guild was founded on the principles of connecting individuals and communities in their appreciation of ceramic arts, innovating contemporary pottery practices, and educating future generations. For decades, the Guild has also been a staple of community initiatives and fundraising efforts for a variety of charitable organisations including the Brantford Food Bank, Camp Molly, and the W. Ross Macdonald School. In September of 2014, the Guild opened ClayWorks Studio in Brantford’s Artisan Village as a teaching facility that offers year-round pottery classes and workshops for adults and children. And since 2022, Glenhyrst Art Gallery has hosted a permanent retail space to support and promote the Guild’s work. From its humble beginnings, the Guild has grown steadily in membership and influence, reaching an enrollment of over 100 active members. This exhibition is not a survey of the last fifty years but marks the Guild’s continuance and enduring legacy in the City of Brantford, Six Nations of the Grand River, and Brant County. For many centuries, this place has held a strong relationship to pottery and this history is, thankfully, still unfolding.

Artists
Pamela Bamsey | Andrea Baumann | Katherine Brady-Puskas | Lynn Burtch | David Carson | Christine Devereux | Lynne Di Stefano | Theresa Dinsmore | Jenn Foley | Emily Gabriel | Louise Garnett | Melissa Generoux | Mandy Gibson | Christie Gruppe | Kandyce Harrington | Ruth Hartley | Patricia Holmes | Alex Kostuk | Rosalie MacNeil | Nancy Magee | Sue Mak | Mary McDonald | Angela Mead | Aliki Mikulich | Scott Nicholson | Ursula O’Brien | Joseph Panacci | John Prosser | Sue Richardson | Marion Skitch | Cindy Smiley | Lynda Smith | Alyssa Theurer | Donna Thomson | Sue Waldorf | Crystal Warner-Hawley | Suzanne Welsby | Patsy Wicha | Jeanne Yardley

Acknowledgements
Glenhyrst Art Gallery acknowledges that we are on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabe, and Haudenosaunee Peoples. This land is part of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe peoples and symbolises the agreement to share, protect our resources, and not to engage in conflict. The City of Brantford is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised to Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.

Accessibility
Glenhyrst Art Gallery is fully accessible and includes an elevator and accessible washroom. The main entrance is accessed by a concrete pathway and may be opened with an automatic door opener. For assistance or questions about the gallery, please contact the gallery.

Admission is free, donations are accepted, and everyone is welcome.

Glenhyrst Art Gallery
20 Ava Road
Brantford, ON N3T 5G9
www.glenhyrst.ca
info@glenhyrst.ca
(519) 756-5932

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