American art pottery is a simplistic phrase to describe one of the most artistically rich and diverse periods of production in the history of American ceramics. Tune in to experience the depth and variety of The Metropolitan Museum’s collection of this material. See the specific influences — from near and far — that inspired the shapes, styles, and glazes of turn of the century American pottery. Learn how potters responded to or rejected tradition during this period of unprecedented artistic and technological growth.

Adrienne Spinozzi will present two dominant trends influencing art pottery: the embrace and emulation of historical and ancient ceramics, and the contemporaneous design reform movement and art education.

Adrienne Spinozzi oversees The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collections of American redware, stoneware, and art pottery. She joined the museum in 2007 and was part of the curatorial team responsible for the reinstallation of the Charles Engelhard Court in 2009. Her recent exhibitions include Shapes from Out of Nowhere: Ceramics from the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection (2021), featuring a selection of 20th and 21st century abstract and nonrepresentational ceramics. She co-curated the current exhibition Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina, a traveling exhibition focusing on the contributions of the enslaved potters — both known and unknown — in western South Carolina during the nineteenth century. She is a graduate of Hartwick College and the Bard Graduate Center in decorative arts, design history, and material culture.