Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service - Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise

Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Newcomb Art Gallery at Tulane University are excited to announce a major exhibition of American art pottery and crafts, Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise. One of the most significant American art potteries of the twentieth century, Newcomb works are a graceful union of form and decoration inspired by the flora and fauna of the Gulf South. Each piece is one of a kind—and collectively they create a distinctive southern art form.

In 1895, the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, Tulane University’s women’s coordinate college, established the Newcomb Pottery in New Orleans, and conceived it as part artist collective, part social experiment, and part business enterprise initiative under the auspices of an educational program. The art school faculty incorporated the philosophies and tenets of the English Arts and Crafts movement into their curriculum to teach Southern women self-reliance by way of an education and gain financial independence through the sale of their wares. The Pottery thrived until 1940.

Today these remarkable, distinctive art objects continue to be critically acclaimed and highly sought-after, and the Newcomb program is a rich mine for academic research. Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise showcases a striking collection of Newcomb pottery, metalwork, bookbinding, and textiles with text that draws from new scholarship to explore the history of the Pottery and its importance as a social and artistic experiment.

Why book this exhibition?

Complete exhibition package, including contents, shipping, and advanced educational/promotional materials
Never-before-traveled works of art
Diversity of objects, from pottery to jewelry, textiles, and metalwork
New scholarship about the Newcomb Pottery enterprise

The exhibition will premiere at the Newcomb Art Gallery in fall 2013 before launching a national tour in 2014. This exhibition is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works.

Contents Approximately 100-125 objects, including pottery, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, and bookbinding; text panels and labels

Participation Fee $50,000, per 12-week booking period (fee includes shipping)

Size Approximately 3,000-3,500 square feet

Crates To be determined

Weight To be determined

Category Art

Security High

SITES Contacts Marquette Folley, 202.633.3111 (Content/design)
Minnie Russell, 202.633.3160 (Scheduling)

Tour begins Summer 2014

Dates		Host Institution	Status
10/03/2013-	03/09/2014	Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA	Booked
06/07/2014-	08/31/2014	Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA	Reserved
09/20/2014-	01/04/2015		Call for Availability
01/24/2015-	04/19/2015	Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Reserved
05/09/2015-	08/02/2015		Call for Availability
08/22/2015-	11/29/2015		Call for Availability
12/19/2015-	03/27/2016		Call for Availability
04/16/2016-	07/10/2016		Call for Availability
07/30/2016-	10/23/2016	Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN	Reserved

Newcomb Pottery companion book: Coming soon!

None listed at this time. Please check back again.