A Gathering of Pots: Celebrating the Life of M.C. Richards - May 16, 2013

Join us on May 16 at The Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley for this event to celebrate the life and the great artistic spirit of poet, painter and potter M. C. Richards. The free event, A Gathering of Pots, will start at 6 p.m. at The Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley, Malvern, Pa.

The Henry Gallery at the Conference Center will feature a small exhibit of her work on loan from Kimberton Hills, curated by Grace Ann Peysson. If you own a piece of M.C.'s art, you are also invited to share at the "Instant Gallery" that will be created and displayed only for that evening.

Penn State Great Valley Chancellor Dr. Craig Edelbrock will start the evening with an overview of M.C. Richards' life, then show the film, M. C. Richards: The Fire Within, "an adventure into discovering the source of our creativity told through the life of poet, potter, teacher and mystical philosopher Mary Caroline Richards (1916-1999)."  Following the film, Edelbrock will lead a discussion focusing on the artist's local connections to our area from the last years of her life.

6 p.m. - 7 p.m. Instant Gallery
7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Film: M.C. Richards: The Fire Within
8 p.m. - 9 p.m. Discussion/Gallery Talk

M.C. Richards came to live at Camphill Kimberton in 1984, as an artist-in-residence.

"Agriculture weaves through the fabric of my life as vividly as the threads of pottery, art, education and inner development," said M.C. Richards, "Soil care and soul care are the heartbeat of the community in which I have chosen to live: Camphill Village Kimberton Hills. I was drawn to its practice of biodynamic agriculture and social therapy - part of a world-wide involvement of life-sharing with mentally handicapped adults in need of special soul care."

As Camphill Kimberton continues to celebrate our 40th Anniversary, we are pleased to join with Penn State Great Valley and honor M.C. Richards, who impacted village life in so many positive ways.

Richards was a pivotal figure at the famously experimental Black Mountain College serving as head of faculty (1949-51) with those soon-to-be avant garde luminaries in the New York art scene — Robert Rauschenberg, Elaine and Willem deKooning, Jacob Lawrence, Arthur Penn, Robert Motherwell, Merce Cunningham and John Cage - and where she worked with ceramic artists Karen Karnes and Robert Turner.

During her time at Black Mountain College, Richards wrote her first volume of poetry, Poems, which was published at the school’s Black Mountain Press in 1948. Author of the enduring classic Centering: In Pottery, Poetry and the Person, first published in 1964, Richards published other books with poetry and essays with a connection to creative arts and spirituality.



In the early 1960s she began teaching artistic classes that brought pottery and other forms of creativity together. Richards was awarded the Holy Names Medal from Fort Wright College in 1974, and was made a fellow of the Collegium of American Craftspersons of the American Crafts Council in 1976. In 1984 she moved to Camphill Village Kimberton Hills in Kimberton, Pa. where she took up painting and continued to teach until her death in 1999 at age 83.

The event is free, but registration is required, starting May 1 at http://gatheringofpots.eventbrite.com.