311: Louise Cort on her illustrious career working in museums
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Louise Cort. After traveling to Japan on an exchange program in high school, Louise developed a love for everyday functional objects. This fascination led her to a PHD in ceramic history from Oxford and then onto nearly fifty years of research and curatorial work in museums. Forty of those years was spent working for the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries where she was the curator of ceramics.
In our interview we talk about what constitutes good museum display. She mentioned a favorite exhibition during her time at the Freer Gallery when Australian ceramicist Gwyn Hanssen Pigott was invited to assemble groupings of work from the gallery’s permanent collection. She choose pots based on formal relationships regardless of nationality or time period. The above image is an example of one of Pigott's groupings. We also discuss her research into Japanese and Southeast Asian ceramics and how museums are evolving as cultural awareness shifts. To sample Cort’s research visit www.researchgate.net/profile/Louise_Cort.
For today’s AMACO Community Corkboard we have a fund drive for Dan Lafferty’s Bandicoot Pottery, whose studio burnt down in the recent bush fires in New South Wales, Australia. To make a donation and help them rebuild search Bandicoot Pottery at www.gofundme.com. I’d like to thank Amaco/Brent for sponsoring the community corkboard. Brent Equipment is celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year and have created a Limited Edition Black CXC wheel. For more information visit www.amaco.com.
Ceramic Materials Workshop is a proud sponsor of the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler. Ceramic Materials Workshop is a place online to learn about how materials really work. We’ve been teaching about glazes at the most prestigious ceramic universities for years, and now our classes are open to everyone around the world online. Class sessions begin every January, April, July and October 1st, or try our new self-guided online workshop the Middle Glazes: The Story of Mid Temperature Glazes available now. Use the coupon code REDCLAY, all one word, for 25% off the Middle Glazes for a limited time. Find out more and sign up at www.ceramicmaterialsworkshop.com.