Two Tribes Pottery: Muzeo / Anaheim Museum

This entry is and has been a long time coming, back in the early 2000's the begining on a new milinieum and very early in my artistic career, I was approached by the what was then the Anaheim Museum, which at that point in time occupied the historic Anaheim Public Library on the corner on Anaheim blvd and broadway. The Museum at that time had an exciting vision and plans for a total restoration and expansion of their small yet charming museum.

pottery on display at the Anaheim Museum

Part of this new development was a permanent exhibition, entitled the History of Anaheim. This portion of the museums collection would consist of artifacts that are a part of Anaheims history, from historical records, Disneyland momentos, personal items from the very early residents and community leaders. Another key component of this exhibition, would represent artifacts that pertained to the very early indigenous people that inhabited the land that was to become Anaheim. Part of this portion of the exhibit would consists of basketry, ornamental treasure, tools and pottery ware that the early inhabitants would have used in their daily lives.

broken fire pit pottery

Some of the items were easily found or collected, however the pottery was a bit of a connundrum to gather for all parties involved with the project. During this time I was participating in the museums life drawing and painting program that was offered on saturday mornings, a fine program it was. One day I summoned the courage to share my pottery work with the coordinator of the life painting and drawing program, while impressed with my pottery work, there wasn't much they could offer in terms of showing or selling at the museum. However a couple months later the coordinator approached me with an offer to construct pottery that would resemble what the indigenous natives would have used and these pots would be used in the permanent exhibition. An almost instant vision came to my mind as to what these pots should look like and after careful research coupled with enrolling into a semester of ceramics at Fullerton College which gave me the knowledge on raku and pit fired pottery, these are the pots that became the final pieces for the museums permanent collection.

It was an incredibly fun and fulfilling project, to construct and design
the pots. The overall construction was a no brainer as I was already practing pottery in the hand coiled method, however it was the overall look of the pots that I didn't no how to acquire. Working in just one methond of ceramics and not having a broader knowledge of the ceramic arts. It forced me to take a semester of ceramics and understand the method of outdoor pit fired pottery which is somewhat similiar to raku. This was a wonderful opportunity for me and became a major catalyst in furthering my knowledge and admiration for the ceramic arts. It also helped me to become more serious about what I was doing and to further inspire me to promote and show my work to a much greater degree. So if you are in Anaheim, CA please check out the Muzeo/Anaheim Museum, Anaheim's premier establishment for the arts, and make sure you check out their installment of the History of Anaheim.