piece of serendipity, his first
resident artists were two
young, maverick Montanans
named Peter Voulkos and Rudy
Autio. Profoundly influenced
by their time there, they went
on to revolutionize clay as a
sculptural medium.
Bray died in 1953, but people
never stopped coming to work
at his pottery. Today it remains
a mecca for inventive ceramic
artists the world over, many of
whom will make a pilgrimage
to Helena this summer for its
60th anniversary. “From the
Center to the Edge: 60 Years
of Creativity and Innovation at
the Archie Bray Foundation”
is the theme of the celebration,
to include a symposium, exhibi-
tions, and a distinguished line-
up of artists, from leaders at the
core of the field to experiment-
ers at the periphery.
“We’re trying to be consci-
entious about not just patting
ourselves on the back for last-
ing as long as we have,” says
Steven Young Lee, the Bray’s
resident artist director since
2006. “What makes the
Bray so special is that it has
The “gang of five” -
Soetsu Yanagi, Bernard
Leach, Rudy Autio,
Peter Voulkos, and
Shoji Ham ada-ata
workshop in the original
pottery building in 1952.
