Pursuing Exceptional Ceramics:
Gifts from the Lennie and Jerry Berkowitz Collection

This installation celebrates the generosity of longtime museum supporters, the late Lennie and Jerry Berkowitz. Lennie’s support of ceramic artists was particularly noteworthy. She was not only a collector of contemporary ceramics, but also one of the earliest dealers of their work in the country. Lennie was inspired by the original and groundbreaking work of Kansas City Art Institute professors and graduates such as Kenneth Ferguson, Akio Takamori, Kurt Weiser, and Richard Notkin, all of whom pushed the boundaries of clay forms and decoration. For the Berkowitzes, and the many Kansas City collectors they inspired, the artists featured here challenge traditional ideas of ceramics by experimenting with form, technique, or decoration. The works encourage us to think about ceramics in new ways, beyond traditional objects and processes, and past form and function.

Organized by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.