Memory Monday: Hicks album, Week 10
One final look inside the Gladding McBean factory during Feats of Clay XXIII, March 2010.
The Adventure Continues… Terra Cotta
I don’t do this very often, but this week I’ve decided to repeat an episode — one that I originally featured way back in May 2017. For the past few Mondays I’ve been sharing photos with you that I found in the Hicks Album from the Feats of Clay XXIII exhibition, one of the last years the event was held inside Gladding McBean. The images have raised a few questions about the terra cotta factory; and the fact that the company no longer offers tours to the public makes this look inside all the more wonderful. I hope you enjoy seeing Huell’s visit to Gladding McBean as much as I have. My original post: Lincoln is a little town not too far up the road from my house, and I’ve never spent much time there at all. So I was very surprised when I first saw this episode of California’s Gold to realize there is such an important and historical company located there. From the Brooks Brothers emblem to light standards for a bridge in Moosejaw, Canada, these guys create art for public spaces, and every piece is created by hand. Step back in time with Huell to the olden days of making pottery the Gladding McBean way. The 118-year-old company in rural Lincoln, near Sacramento, is the nation’s only remaining major manufacturer of terra cotta. From decorative to functional, McBean’s terra cotta is acclaimed for its distinctive style which graces […]
Memory Monday: Hicks Album, Week 9
The Gladding McBean company has a long and fascinating history. Over many decades of the factory’s existence, their artists have created miles of clay sewer pipe, tons of decorative tableware, and countless pieces of architectural ornamentation in terra cotta. To walk through the factory even today is to discover bits and pieces of history lying about in every room.
Memory Monday: Hicks Album, Week 7
For 24 years, the juried international ceramics art show known as Feats of Clay arrived every March inside the Gladding McBean terra cotta factory in Lincoln, California. Things changed in 2012, however; the event disappeared, and when it returned in 2013, it had a new organizer, a new location, and a new name: America’s ClayFest. For 2022, the month-long art […]
Memory Monday: A different chapter
What do you do after you’ve run through pretty much all of your own family photos and there seems to be nothing left to share? Well, you might start sharing the lost or discarded photos of strangers! Part of my motivation for this project comes from discovering the Museum of Lost Memories on Instagram. I may never find any photos […]
The Adventure Continues… Terra Cotta
Lincoln is a little town not too far up the road from my house, and I’ve never spent much time there at all. So I was very surprised when I first saw this episode of California’s Gold to realize there is such an important and historical company located there. From the Brooks Brothers emblem to light standards for a bridge […]