Robert Arneson, Art Works, c. 1960. Glazed earthenware. Collection of Forrest L. Merrill. Photography by M. Lee Fatheree.From February 1–April 6, 2025, the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Scripps College Ceramic Annual, the longest continuous exhibition of contemporary ceramics in the United States. This year’s exhibition, “In the Hands of the Collector: The Fred Marer and Forrest L. Merrill Collections,” is guest curated by ceramic historian, author, and educator Nancy Servis and features over one hundred works by more than sixty artists.
A tale of two California collectors, their passion for clay, and the evolution of the Ceramic Annual form the heart of this exhibition. Fred Marer (1908–2002) a math professor at Los Angeles City College, collected more than 1,500 contemporary works that span six decades. In Northern California, Berkeley’s Forrest L. Merril (b. 1933) amassed more than 4,000 pieces.
“Since its debut in 1945, the Scripps College Ceramic Annual has demonstrated how artists dynamically engage the medium,” notes Dr. Erin M. Curtis, Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Director of the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery. “Fred Marer and Forrest L. Merrill personally witnessed the emergence and influence of the Ceramic Annual and championed many artists who exhibited at Scripps. Their collections provide a fascinating window into not only the Ceramic Annual, but also twentieth-century ceramics in California and beyond.”
“In the Hands of the Collector” highlights works by Laura Andreson, Robert Arneson, Ralph Bacerra, Michael and Magdalene Frimkess, David Gilhooly, Shoji Hamada, Jun Kaneko, Glen Lukens, Harrison McIntosh, Otto and Gertrud Natzler, Antonio Prieto, Lucie Rie, Paul Soldner, Goro Suzuki, Henry Takemoto, Marguerite Wildenhain, Toshiko Takaezu, Peter Voulkos, and Beatrice Wood. The exhibition explores how Marer and Merrill’s collections document a shift from vessels to sculptural forms and demonstrate key moments in West Coast ceramics.
“When you take the time to focus on an artist’s work, you have the liberty to go where they’ve been,” says Merrill. “And that’s the kind of journey that interests me very much.”
The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalog featuring essays by Servis; Carol Sauvion, producer and director of the PBS documentary series “Craft in America”; Rody N. Lopez, executive director of Craft Contemporary; gallerist Mike Holmes; and Kirk Delman, registrar and collections manager at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery.
A public opening reception will be held at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery on Saturday, February 1 from 7 to 9 p.m. The gallery will be open during the exhibition from 12 to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Additional information about the exhibition and related events is available on the gallery’s website or by calling (909) 607-3397.