Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise

June 12–August 30, 2015
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

Established in 1895 by the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, Tulane University’s former women’s college, Newcomb Pottery was conceived as part artist collective, part social experiment, and part business enterprise. Incorporating the tenets of the English Arts and Crafts movement with forms and decorations inspired by the natural landscape of Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, Newcomb Pottery created a curriculum that would teach self-reliance to Southern women as well as encourage financial independence through the sale of their wares. Each piece is one of a kind; collectively, they represent a distinctive Southern art form.

The largest presentation of Newcomb arts and crafts in more than twenty-five years, Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise showcased a striking collection of Newcomb pottery, metalwork, bookbinding, and textiles representing nearly 50 years of achievement in decorative arts. By bringing together over 180 examples of their work, the exhibition offered new insights into the extraordinary women of Newcomb—from their philosophy and sense of community, to the elegant craftsmanship that secured Newcomb Pottery’s place on the vanguard of American art and industry.

Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise was organized by the Newcomb Art Gallery and the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service and supported by grants from the Henry Luce Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Artworks.