Clay and Community Exhibition
Cube Gallery: February to March 2022
Clay & Community is an exciting exhibition of pots made by our communities, both near and far, inspired by Leach, and made possible by our Leach100 Take Part! centennial celebrations.
Alongside pots by Bernard Leach, Janet Leach, William Marshall and Trevor Corser, you will find inspiring pieces made in response to pots like these and as an expression of creativity itself. From local children at Nancledra School making in their classroom as part of Clay School, to families and adults joining our National Raku Party, or pupils from our Schools Design Challenge making in our Old Pottery, there are all kinds of pots to see – united by the act of creativity and making with clay.
Pots from the following Leach100 events and communities feature:
Leach100 Clay School
The Leach Pottery held workshops in local schools and hosted school visits from across the UK – the exhibition includes a selection of pots made by Nancledra School pupils.
Leach100 National Schools Design Challenge
A national competition to design a pot for sharing with prizes for three winning schools, including a mini-apprenticeship at the Leach Pottery. In the exhibition are examples of the winning schools’ designs and pots, alongside pieces made at the Leach Pottery by Norwich School and Queensbridge School as part of their prize.
Gold Winner: Norwich School. Pupils visited the Leach Pottery for a week-long mini-apprenticeship and experienced making different kinds of pottery, including Janet Leach inspired sculptural pots and bowls thrown on the kick wheel
Silver Winner: Queensbridge School, Birmingham. Their students visited the Leach Pottery for one day, making sculptural pieces and their own hand-thrown bowls
Bronze Winner: Liskeard School, Cornwall. Received money towards equipment and materials.
Leach100 National Raku Party
Bernard Leach’s experience of trying Raku in Japan, over a century ago, inspired him and changed the course of his life. It was natural that the Leach Pottery should give people the opportunity to experience raku for themselves. This was done by supporting 21 nationwide partner organisations, during the summer of 2021, to give people of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to try raku. Over 120 people enjoyed free access to raku and a selection of their pots are included in this exhibition.
Leach100 Leach Pottery Raku Party
The Leach Pottery also held its own Raku Party for local families and community members, reaching at least 35 eager participants. Alongside raku, those who joined us also had the opportunity to make additional earthenware pots and tiles. A selection of these different works are included in the exhibition.
Supported By
The financial support for this exhibition, provided as part of our Leach100 activities, uses funding from Arts Council England, the Garfield Weston Foundation, and Cornwall Council.