Henry Okamoto, Action Plate, 10.5 x 1.5 inches, 1959
Photo credit: Jeff Schlanger

Clay Art Center is pleased to present

HOMAGE TO HENRY

A exhibition celebrating the ceramic work of our co-founder, Henry Okamoto, featuring a selection of works on loan from private collections.

In the Gallery & Online March 3 - April 10
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 4, 6:30 - 8:30pm

Homage to Henry Exhibition celebrates the ceramic work of Clay Art Center’s co-founder Henry Okamoto (1923-1988). A selection of works has been loaned from private collections highlighting Henry’s work as an artist and teacher at Clay Art Center from 1957 until his death in 1988.

Henry Okamoto, a classic potter, founded Clay Art Center with his classmate Katherine Choy in Port Chester, NY in 1957. Katherine and Henry imagined - and created - a place “to promote the art of clay–ceramics and sculpture–as culture on an advanced level... To encourage clay artists–potters and sculptors–... in advanced research in the art of clay, and to provide promising young clay artists ...a period of time to study independently in order to cultivate themselves into more mature artists.” Located in Port Chester, at 49 Beech Street, a few doors down from Clay Art Center’s present day location at 40 Beech Street, Choy and Okamoto provided the opportunity for ceramic artists to come together and share their resources and passion for clay.

With Choy's untimely death in 1958, Okamoto pursued Choy’s legacy for the rest of his life. At one time a lone beacon of clay artistry on the east coast, CAC become a haven for clay artists, many of whom pursued significant careers in ceramics and influenced contemporary ceramic practice.

Henry Okamoto's work was the extension of a childhood steeped in a rural farm upbringing in Lodi, California, where everything had a function and was closely connected to the community. His ceramic work was made in the after-hours of running Clay Art Center, often in the evenings when all of his administration and practical work was done. Henry typified the traditional "village potter" of his parent's ancestral home in Japan - he worked on a kick-wheel, turning out functional pottery that encompassed everyday use pieces such as plates, bowls, and cups. Studio artists from the early years of Clay Art Center remember Henry's skill at everything from woodwork to pottery, and that he was masterful at throwing his pieces in almost one sitting. His glazes were often in quiet, iron-rich earthy tones with subtle surfaces, over forms that demanded use rather than admiration. Henry's work was meant to become a part of everyday life with a particular function. The work in this exhibition has formed a part of the daily lives of the people that use it - a testament to Henry's understanding of what mattered in the rhythms of the everyday.

“Henry was beloved,” said Reena Kashyap, Director Emeritus of Clay Art Center. “He did his best. He was more concerned about the soul of the place than collecting rent from the artists. People who were there in those days remember it as an incredible environment.”

View the Press Release

Free Weekly Exhibition/Gallery Tours

Every Wednesday at 11:30am

Visitors to Clay Art Center will be able to learn more about the artworks currently on view in the gallery, including in-depth looks at some of the exhibition highlights with the Exhibition Manager or Gallery Staff. Additionally, visitors may also take a guided tour of Clay Art Center facilities, which will include artist studios, classrooms and kiln facilities. Learn More

The exhibition “Homage to Henry” runs in Port Chester concurrently to the exhibition “Katherine Choy: Radical Potter in 1950’s New Orleans” on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art through April 16, 2023.

Katherine Choy (1929-1958). In1957, Katherine, a visionary 28-year old immigrant who was born in Hong Kong, and reared in Shanghai, left her assistant professorship in ceramics at Tulane University and moved to Port Chester, NY to fulfill her dream of establishing a center for the advancement of ceramic arts. She purchased Clay Art Center for the purpose of teaching young potters and providing studio space for ceramic artists and created one of the first ceramic art centers on the East Coast. Throughout CAC’s 65-year history many renowned ceramic artists have passed through our doors having taught, exhibited or rented studio space adding to Katherine’s legacy as we continue to honor their vision.

Viola Frey and Henry Okamoto at Clay Art Center