Ceramic Arts Foundation

In 1979 the Institute for Ceramic History, as CAF was first known, was founded by Garth Clark and Margie Hughto with the goal of advancing scholarship and criticism in the modern and contemporary ceramic arts. In that year it organized its first symposium in Syracuse, New York, together with a massive 450-object exhibition, A Century of Ceramics in the United States 1878-1979. Since then CAF has organized eight major international conferences, mounted exhibtions, initiated a film library for the medium and published books.

Its management style is unique. CAF does not maintain any permanent overhead. Services are contracted when CAF is working on a project and disbanded as soon as the project ends. In that way all funds go directly to CAF’s primary activities and not to administrative expenses.

Since its formation CAF has organized six of its eight symposia (two were organized by the Everson Museum of Art) culminating in the Ceramic Millenium in Amsterdam in 1999, which attracted 3,500 participants from 65 international delegations. In addition, the symposium was accompanied by an Arts and Resources Fair, an art festival with 75 participating institutions, a three Film Festival and a series of “Caravans” that left from Amsterdam and focused on the historical centers of ceramics in Europe.

CAF does not plan any future symposia at the present and is now focused on developing literature and exhibitions to explore canon.