“Festa,” Ralph Fasanella, 1957. Oil on canvas from the collection of Gina Fasanella Mostrando.

NORWICH, CONN. – The Slater Memorial Museum has a long-standing focus on contemporary crafts. Through August 25, the museum is hosting a major contemporary ceramics exhibition “: Ceramic Artists of the Northeast.”

Sponsored by the Katherine Forest Crafts Foundation, Inc and curated by internationally acclaimed ceramist and educator John Gill, the exhibition explores the many modes of artistic expression found today among some of the best who have selected clay as their medium of choice.

Gill, a teacher at Alfred University’s School of Ceramics and longtime friend and professional colleague of the Slater Museum’s director Sheila K. Tabakoff, was asked to assemble a group of clay artists from the northeastern United States whose work he admired and which reflected the multifaceted approach to clay characteristic of current times: traditional, functional pottery; ceramic sculpture; vessels as form; installation works; and ceramics as design.

The result is not only a veritable who’s who in this field and a unique assembly of artists whose work is seldom seen together in one place, but also an important opportunity for craftsmen, crafts enthusiasts and collectors of this region to view the current state of contemporary clay artistry.

The show ranges from such American icons as Wayne Higby, the first contemporary ceramist to have his work acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Val Cushing, who has exhibited in more than 200 shows during his long career, to emerging artists such as Michael Jones McKean, who is fresh out of graduate school.

Museum hours are 9 am to 4 pm, Tuesday through Friday, 1 to 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday. For information, 860-887-2505.