Greenwich House Pottery is a non-profit pottery studio located in the
West Village
The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...
of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
History
Greenwich House Pottery was founded in New York's Greenwich Village in 1909
as a part of the
settlement house
The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity an ...
Greenwich House
Greenwich House is a West Village settlement house in New York City.
History
Greenwich House was founded on Thanksgiving Day 1902 by city planner and social worker Mary K. Simkhovitch in a building at 26 Jones Street in Manhattan's West Vill ...
.
Greenwich House provides arts education (including
Greenwich House Music School
Greenwich House Music School is a community arts school located at 46 Barrow Street in New York City's Greenwich Village.
Background
The School is a part of Greenwich House, an organization started in 1902 as part of the settlement movement ...
, senior service and behavioral health programs.
Greenwich House Pottery was founded as a place both to teach pottery making skills by molding the clay or on a potter's wheel.
It has taught children, from two years of age, since it was founded
to provide a safe after-school and recreation program.
Notable ceramic artists who have taught at Greenwich House include
Stanley Rosen (1956–59),
Bernard Leach
Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979) was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery".
Biography
Early years (Japan)
Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (n ...
,
Shōji Hamada
was a Japanese potter. He had a significant influence on studio pottery of the twentieth century, and a major figure of the ''mingei'' (folk-art) movement, establishing the town of Mashiko, Tochigi, Mashiko as a pottery centre. In 1955 he was d ...
,
Peter Voulkos
Peter Voulkos (born Panagiotis Harry Voulkos; 29 January 1924 – 16 February 2002) was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic c ...
,
Elise Siegel and
Robert Turner. Israeli ceramist
Siona Shimshi studied at Greenwich House.
Location
The pottery studio is located in a
Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...
building designed by
Delano & Aldrich
Delano & Aldrich was an American Beaux-Arts architectural firm based in New York City. Many of its clients were among the wealthiest and most powerful families in the state. Founded in 1903, the firm operated as a partnership until 1935, when Al ...
at 16 Jones Street in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
in New York City.
It is located within the
South Village Historic District, and was registered on February 24, 2014, as a
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
Description
Greenwich House Pottery offers classes, including sculpting and firing, of six
or twelve weeks in duration. There are day and evening classes for beginners to advanced students throughout the year.
It teaches children, starting with toddlers, and adults.
In addition to classes, it also offers lectures and workshops. It conducts exhibitions and performs outreach to the community.
Within Greenwich House Pottery is the Jane Hartsook Gallery. The Gallery was named in honor of Jane Hartsook, former Pottery Director, for her leadership role in making it "one of the nation's leading ceramic arts studios," according to
Alfred University
Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York, United States. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the statutory New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The In ...
.
Owing, in part, to a renaissance in ceramics, enrollment at the pottery grew to a point where a major renovation was planned. Starting in 2019, the pottery will undergo substantial changes which include adding an elevator, expanded workspace, more kilns, and a roofdeck.
References
Further reading
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External links
Greenwich House Pottery
{{Authority control
American pottery
Arts organizations based in New York City
Non-profit organizations based in New York City
Organizations based in Manhattan
Arts organizations established in 1909
1909 establishments in New York City