How we operate
We are a small team, unaffiliated to any institution, and able to make quick, impartial decisions.
Members of our informal ‘panel’ of experts, comprising leading museum curators, academics, makers and art historians, assist the trustees on a case by case basis to deliver the best decisions and highest quality standards in all that the charity supports.
To win funding from the charity, a project needs to demonstrate new and original work in a neglected area that is of public interest in the field of studio ceramics. The following topics are of particular interest to us:
Makers: individuals, partnerships, collectives and groups
Studios: places, regions, and countries of making
Context: influences, society, culture and historical perspectives
The ceramic continuum: lineage, movements and trends
New ceramic art histories: components and directions
Philosophy: the nature and impact of ceramics, beauty, aesthetics, ethics
The human contact: engagement, experience and perception
Critical analysis and evaluation: methods, criteria, language, and tools
Tastemakers: museums, galleries, collectors and critics
Display and access: options, implications and outcomes
Marketplace : buyers, sellers, galleries, auction houses and dealers
Prices and values: trends, drivers and fashions
In selecting works for public show, trustees will consider technical skill, presence and ‘personality’, evidence of the maker’s ‘voice’, aesthetics, historical or cultural interest and relevance to the location and subject matter of the exhibition. Criteria are neither fixed nor exhaustive, but as well as looking closely at visual impact, ‘significant form’, lines, proportion, colour and surface treatments, we will consider tactile qualities such as weight and feel to the touch and always try to separate interesting innovation from kitsch. In each case, we will ask the question, ‘Why or for what purpose does this piece exist?’
Wherever possible, we will collaborate with arts and academic institutions and charities to deliver outcomes of broad and lasting value to the benefit of all concerned.
The charity generates its projects through a growing network and generally does not respond to unsolicited communications.
