Clay Times Back Issues Vol. 2 Issue 4 • May/June 1996 | Page 16

Event Photos by Glen Blakley

Pots Get the Hammer

First NCECA Endowment Benefit Auction

Auctioneer Richard Nelson of Christie’s,
New York City.

Untitled Plate, 20” x 22” x 5 1/4”. Peter Voulkos. Wood-fired
stoneware. Auctioned for $9,300.

Victor Spinski,
with his life-like
clay tool box that
earned $2,400
for the NCECA
Endowment.

T

he first annual NCECA Endowment Benefit Auction, “Homage to Art,”
took place March 23, 1996 at the Strong Museum in Rochester, NY, in conjunction with NCECA ‘96, the 30th Annual Meeting of the National Council
on Education for the Ceramic Arts.
Thirty-eight pieces were donated by major American craftspeople,
including Peter Voulkos, Betty Woodman, Rudy Autio, Wendell Castle,
Karen Karnes, Toshiko Takaezu, Paul Soldner, Don Reitz, Robert Turner,
Victor Spinksi, and Val Cushing, to name a few.
Auction Chairman Jim Tanner & Paul Soldner, whose
“All About Her” piece was snatched up for $1,300.

The crowd was fairly small,yet extremely knowledgeable and intense.
Most objects brought in roughly 60-80% of retail valu K