Work with us

Call for PhD Application- Radical Ceramics and Alternative Communities: The Leach Pottery Legacy

In partnership with Falmouth University we are pleased to support a PhD stundent. This Research & Knowledge Exchange Doctoral Project brief summarises the priority areas of research interest under the heading of: Radical Ceramics and Alternative Communities - The Leach Pottery Legacy

We welcome all research degree applications aligned with and in response to this brief. This collaborative project proposes developing a research project looking at new and diverse narratives of the Leach Pottery and its community. Students and potters came from all over the world to the pottery in St Ives, and this international exchange created a vibrant ceramics community. In what way did the Leach Pottery, and the wider creative community in St Ives, become a diverse and international centre for ceramics in the 1960s?

As Jenni Sorkin argues in Live Form: Women, Ceramics and Community (2016) pottery is a way of participating and engaging with community through practice, and was particularly important for women and queer people in developing alternative communities that enabled potters to develop self-sufficient creative careers.

This proposed PhD project will look at newly acquired and unresearched archives at the Leach Pottery to uncover new and diverse narratives about the history and heritage of the Pottery’s community in 1960s and 1970s. Building on recent research on the Leach Pottery that looks at its legacy in local, national and international contexts, it will take a queer and postcolonial approach to archive research, and will look at the how the intersections of class, gender, race and sexuality created communities of making and social practice.

For full details and application process please visit Falmouth Univeristiy’s website as linked below.

Details here

The Leach Pottery is expanding provision for local communities by creating more ways to engage in the unique story of this internationally renowned site. Through offering workshops, courses, training, exhibitions and displays we are ensuring our future is for all.

We have secured £3.49m funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the development of the Leach Pottery, St Ives, West Cornwall. As a result, we have several job opportunities to help us achieve these next steps. Click the links to download the full job description. The Leach Pottery is currently undergoing a site-wide transformation project: The Leach Pottery: The Next 100 years. Our £9.6m capital programme will invest in new learning and production studio facilities, repair and conserve the historic buildings, and reinterpret the site through new displays and exhibition spaces. The project will significantly enhance our visitors’ experience.

We say a fond fairwell to two valued team members as they move onto to new training and pursuits and now prepare to welcome two new staff to the team.

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033.

Over the next ten years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to bring about benefits for people, places and the natural environment.

We help protect, transform and share the things from the past that people care about, from popular museums and historic places, our natural environment and fragile species, to the languages and cultural traditions that celebrate who we are.

We are passionate about heritage and committed to driving innovation and collaboration to make a positive difference to people’s lives today, while leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy.

Recuritment

The deadline for applications for both roles detailed below has closed. While the interview process is underway the information will be left for applicants’ reference. No late applications will be accepted.

There are currently 5 staff members in the Learning & Participation team and we seek a Make with Leach Coordinator: Adults & Young People (full time) and a Learning & Participation Technician (part time) to join us as we continue to work with Adults, Schools, Families and Communities in our newly built studios.