Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Media Contacts: Richard Sceiford Mimi Cunningham

Cameron Art Museum UNC Wilmington

910.395-5999 910.962-3171

Wilmington, NC – The name “Ben Owen” is synonymous with pottery in North Carolina, and the artist representing the third generation of that family’s craft tradition is being acknowledged with one of the state’s highest honors for creative excellence, as well as an exhibition of recently-produced work. Potter Ben Owen III, of Seagrove, NC, has been named the 2004 North Carolina Living Treasure by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and the exhibition A Natural Influence: New Works by Ben Owen III will open to the public Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004 at the Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum with a preview reception.

The Thursday, Feb. 5 award ceremony will take place during a 6 p.m. “Directors’ Circle” presentation in the Weyerhaeuser Reception Hall at the Cameron Art Museum. This will be followed by a 7 p.m. preview reception for A Natural Influence and Artists of Southeastern North Carolina: A Juried Exhibition, which will run simultaneously in the museum’s Featured Exhibition Wing. At 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6, Ben Owen III will present a guest lecture and demonstration at UNC Wilmington to art students and faculty about the North Carolina pottery tradition, including his own work.

“I am honored and flattered that I was selected for this distinction in North Carolina,” said Mr. Owen. “We have such a great state and many wonderful artists that make it so unique. I am fortunate to have come from such a creative family and a family of potters in Seagrove. The preservation of talents in North Carolina is a vital part of our society. Most importantly, the support from the people of this state has made it possible for artists like me to pursue our creative endeavors in life.”





Exhibition Overview

A Natural Influence: New Works by Ben Owen III

February 6 – May 2, 2004

North Carolina potter Ben Owen III premiers new work in his first solo museum exhibition, A Natural Influence: New Works by Ben Owen III. Thirty objects showcase his recent explorations in clay inspired by forms of nature. Owen incises the surface of his vessels, echoing a lapping wave or rippling sand ridge. Colors and textures of the natural world he reinterprets in such rich surfaces as salt, ash, mirror black or Chinese red glazes.

Ben Owen III continues a North Carolina pottery tradition in clay that dates back to colonial America. As an artist of the Twenty-First Century, he refines the utilitarian shapes of his forefathers into more contemporary lines and forms. His work is represented in museum collections including the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Mint Museum of Art and the Ohio Craft Museum. Please see the attached biographical background about the artist for more details.

Exhibition Overview

Artists of Southeastern North Carolina: A Juried Exhibition

February 6 – May 2, 2004

The Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum invites artists 15 years and older and living in southeastern North Carolina to submit artwork in any medium for the museum’s annual juried exhibition, Artists of Southeastern North Carolina: A Juried Exhibition, being held at the museum Feb. 6 through May 2, 2004. Eligible applicants must be currently residing in one of the eight counties including New Hanover, Pender, Brunswick, Onslow, Columbus, Bladen, Sampson and Duplin.

There is no submission entry fee for this exhibition and each artist may submit up to two works in any medium. Work must be hand delivered and picked up at the Cameron art Museum. Jurors for this year’s exhibition will be Melissa Post, Curator, Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, NC and Brad Thomas, Director, Van Every/Smith Galleries, Davidson College, Davidson, NC.

To request an entry form, artists submitting artwork for consideration can:

• Call the Cameron Art Museum at 910-395-5999

• E-mail the museum at info@cameronartmuseum.com

• Go to the museum’s web site at www.cameronartmuseum.com to print one out.

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The North Carolina Living Treasure Award



The North Carolina Living Treasure is a project of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington's Museum of World Cultures administered by Randall Library. It is one of the highest honors given by the state to honor creative excellence.

The 2004 North Carolina Living Treasure Award is given to potter Ben Owen III in recognition of his contributions as an artist and artisan of the first order. He also is recognized for preserving artistic traditions; promoting art as a viable economic industry; and representing the best of traditional arts throughout the state of North Carolina.

Previous recipients include the following:



1987 - Julian Guthrie - Boatwright

1988 - Thayer Francie – Marquetarian. Marquetry involves shaving layers of veneer from domestic and exotic woods

1989 - Sid Oakley - Potter

1990 - Bea Hensley - Master blacksmith

1991 - Robert and Ruth Ann Rigaud - Husband and wife team of musical instrument builders 1992 - John Braxton - Master gunsmith

1993 - Harvey K. Littleton - Pioneer artist in the studio glass movement

1994 - Sidney Luck - Traditional potter

1995 - Arval Woody – Fifth-generation chair maker

1997 - Billie Ruth Sudduth - Basket weaver

2004 – Ben Owen III - Potter



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Ben Owen III Biographical Background

Ben Owen III continues a pottery tradition in clay that dates back to Colonial America and beyond. The Owen family came to Moore County, NC from England as early as1756 in search of clay to produce their utilitarian wares for the early settlers. After working under the guidance of Jacques and Juliana Busbee at Jugtown for 36 years, Ben Owen Sr. opened a shop at his home in 1959 where he stamped his pots “Ben Owen Master Potter,” the title he earned in 1928, at the Dogwood Festival. Ben Owen was a great admirer of the early “Oriental Masters” and was greatly influenced by their work, which he studied in museums while working at Jugtown. He refined the utilitarian shapes of his forefathers into more artistic lines and forms. The pottery was finished in many glazes such as bright Orange, Opaque White, Frogskin, Mirror Black and Chinese Blue.

B. Wade Owen, Jr. helped his father at Jugtown and Ben Owen Pottery, glazing, firing kilns and throwing pots. In 1981, he reopened his father’s pottery because of a growing interest by his son, Ben III, in making pots. Greeting the public was his specialty, educating them on the history of the community potters. Wade was the master of firing pottery in the groundhog kilns.

Ben Owen III, born September 13th, 1968, spent after-school hours and summers with his grandfather. He became interested in trying his skill with clay and, at 12 years old,

Ben decided to seek a career in pottery, hoping to become a “Master Potter”. His grandfather was amazed at his diligence and success and was very pleased that he wanted to carry on the craft. After working with his grandfather and finishing high school, Ben received an assistantship in 1987 to teach pottery at Pfeiffer University as well as study business. In 1989, Ben decided to pursue further interests in the arts by attending East Carolina University. His studies at ECU created a different facet to his work. Research in form and color began to influence his unique evolving style as a potter. In 1993, Ben earned his BFA in Ceramics and garnered the outstanding student awards in both the Ceramic Department and the School of Art. He returned home to Seagrove where his interest in clay was born.

In the new century, Ben III and his wife LoriAnn operate the business and enjoy their daughters, Avery and Juliana. There are many influences in the pottery being made today. Many shapes and colors created by Ben Sr. are still being produced. The same Asian influences that guided Ben Sr.’s work are evident in Ben III’s wares also. In the summer of 1995, Ben traveled to Japan to be part of a ceramic workshop in Tokoname. This sharing and teaching experience offered much time to research the same influences that Ben Sr. studied as a young potter. Ben III is inspired and influenced by the art of other cultures. Many recent influences in Ben’s work come from objects in nature. From the coast of North Carolina, to things found around his studio, to a garden at home inspire him in creating pots with a natural influence.

The Ben Owen Pottery website, www.benowenpottery.com, is full of information on the history of the Owen family and its many connections to clay. The site also displays examples of current work, and announcements of special events.







Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum Overview



The Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum, the pinnacle of visual arts in Southeastern North Carolina, opened its new facility April 21, 2002 at the intersection of Independence Blvd. and 17th Street in Wilmington. The Cameron Art Museum is the only institution in the United States dedicated primarily to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the art of North Carolina.

This 42,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility –designed by noted architect Charles Gwathmey—features a permanent collection of North Carolina and American art from the 18th century to the present, as well as the color prints of Mary Cassatt. Also featured are a sculpture garden, “The Forks” restaurant and expansive museum shop. Ongoing at the Cameron Art Museum are temporary exhibitions, educational programming, classes, outreach programs and invitational exhibitions for the region’s artists.

The museum’s Pancoe Art Education Center houses studio spaces offering a wide variety of activities as well as a student art gallery and outdoor classroom and ceramic kiln area. The museum’s 10-acre campus also features recently restored Confederate defensive mounds built during the battle of Forks Road in the last days of the Civil War, which preceded the fall of Wilmington and, soon after, surrender of the Confederate armies.

Details

Address: 3201 South 17th Street

Wilmington, NC 28412

Telephone: 910.395.5999

Fax: 910.395.5030

Go to www.cameronartmuseum.com for full details and schedule of events.

Admission: Adults $5/Family $12/Age 6-18 $2/Children under age 5 free

Museum members always free

First Sundays of each month free

Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Sunday: 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Restaurant Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Sunday Brunch: 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

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