Enhancing the Collection: Pottery Donations to Westtown School

In September, Amy Hart, a 90-year-old former ceramics teacher in Swarthmore reached out to Westtown to consider donating a collection of pottery and other materials to the school. Hart is a prolific arts educator in the region and had friendships with major figures in American pottery and pedagogy such as Paulus Berensohn and M.C. Richards. Westtown was suggested as a potential home for these pieces thanks to the suggestion of Hart’s friend, retired Westtown ceramics teacher Joyce Nagata.

In this donation, Hart has gifted Westtown with pieces by Berensohn, Ruth Duckworth, and Karen Karnes. Further, to build on this donation, iconic Philadelphia gallery owners Rick and Ruth Snyderman have also donated a piece by Berensohn to Westtown. Berensohn has direct ties to Westtown, as he was an artist in residence in 1993. He worked with students in all divisions and delivered a lecture on his cutting-edge arts pedagogy.

In addition to the pottery collection, Hart donated a wide variety of classroom and research materials to Westtown. This donation included art books for the Lower School and Upper School libraries, 20 Native American rattles made of various materials, 22 carved spoons made of various materials, six Native American Zuni small stone fetishes, a large collection of minerals, fossils, ivory, shells and a completely intact ostrich egg on a hand-made ceramic base.

This donation comes at a time when Middle School art teacher Cindy Hodgson is conducting a project to consider the history of pottery at Westtown in collaboration with the Archives. Further, an anonymous donor purchased pottery by Joyce Nagata and current ceramics teacher Stephanie Wilhelm for the school’s permanent collection, as well as a ceramic piece by Cara Graver, former longtime Westtown art teacher. The donations honor a history connecting Quakerism and pottery in Chester County, as outlined in the book, The Potters and Potteries of Chester County by Westtown alum Arthur E. James.

“There is a thread connecting Quakerism, American pottery, Chester County, and Westtown School,” reflects Alex Ates, Director of PK-12 Visual and Performing Arts. “For example, Paulus Berensohn—who is widely credited for changing the course of American Ceramics education—was greatly influenced by Quaker mysticism and was a guest artist at Westtown. Amyallery of these wo Hart’s generous donation honors Westtown’s marvelous legacy of encouraging ‘the living arts.’ Indeed, these pieces will now live on campus with us, inspiring and teaching students for generations to come.”

You can explore the gallery of these wonderful donated pieces here.