Impressive RISD Museum Exhibition Highlights Ceramics, Grows Collection

Nancy Selvin, American (b. 1943 in Los Angeles), Still Life with Red Bowl, 2004. Gift of Hope and Mel Barkan. RISD Museum, Providence, RI. Photograph by Robert Puglisi.

For most collectors, the acquisition of art is a deeply personal endeavor. Patrons seek pieces both to live with and to share with others. Some visionary art lovers also work to build collections that can be given in whole or in part to institutions for public enjoyment. On view now until April 5, 2026 at the RISD Museum in Providence, a special exhibition highlights a remarkable family art collection and celebrates a major gift to the museum at the same time.

Titled A Shared Journey: The Barkan Contemporary Ceramic Collection, the exhibition features 100 works from the collection of Hope and Mel Barkan. 52 of the exhibited pieces will be entering the museum’s permanent collection, which, according to the institution, marks the most significant gift of contemporary ceramics in its history. The show is remarkable in its breadth and quality, which has sparked significant public interest. A special celebration accompanying the exhibition in the fall of 2025 saw the galleries packed with ceramists and those who appreciate them.

Akio Takamori 高森昭夫, Japanese (1950–2017, b. in Nobeoka, Japan), Youthful Shaka (envelope), 1995. Collection of Hope and Mel Barkan. RISD Museum, Providence, RI. Photograph by Robert Puglisi.

The exhibition was curated by Elizabeth A. Williams, David and Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Arts and Design. For Williams, witnessing the way people have interacted with the show has been special. She says, “I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing visitors of all ages enter the gallery, look around, and pause for what I would describe as a moment of wonder and curiosity in response to what they are encountering. Other favorite moments include visits from artists in the exhibition, who are happy to see their work on view, especially in the company of fellow ceramic artists --one described it as a gathering of friends. Ceramics is a field of highly collaborative people, who are known to be very generous with their knowledge.”

Another aspect that sets A Shared Journey apart is its emphasis on educators, including RISD alumni and faculty. Williams continues, “Many of the artists in the exhibition are or were ceramics educators, and there is a strong network of generations of ceramists through both studio practices and academic education programs represented in the exhibition, including RISD alumni Nicole Cherubini, and former RISD Ceramic Department faculty members, Jun Kaneko and Annabeth Rosen.”

A Shared Journey is being presented across two of the museum’s galleries. In the elegant wood paneled Ceramics Gallery visitors can see the first phase of the show and in the bright Farago Gallery upstairs they can see an even more immersive display. On a recent afternoon visit the changing light in Farago highlighted the kaleidoscopic effect of the myriad glazes and underglazes that imbue such a fantastic range of tonality in the ceramics on display. The show’s inventory includes many boldfaced names of luminaries from the world of clay including Viola Frey, Nancy Selvin, Akio Takamori, and Betty Woodman, among others.

Betty Woodman, American (1930–2018; b. in Norwalk, Connecticut), Minoan Pillow Pitcher, 1980. Collection of Hope and Mel Barkan. RISD Museum, Providence, RI. Photograph by Robert Puglisi.

The exhibition serves as both an excellent survey for experienced ceramics connoisseurs as well as a great point of entry for those who are newer to the medium. Looking at the exhibition leaves one impressed by what can be done with earth. From the colorfully abstract to the exquisitely illusionistic, the exhibition offers artworks for a range of tastes. The fact that the exhibition also denotes a landmark gift offers viewers the chance to see the museum’s collection change and grow in real time.

Reflecting on what the Barkan family donations will mean to the museum, Williams feels they will have a major impact. She says, “The more than 50 contemporary ceramics given by the Barkans to the RISD Museum are truly transformational, bringing nearly thirty new ceramic artists into the collection, and expanding the holdings of those already in the collection. Through leading artists who created bold and sculptural works in the 20th and 21st centuries, the Barkans' collection represents a revelatory movement in the field of ceramics, as well as the establishment and development of ceramic programs and departments in academic institutions throughout the country.”

RISD Museum’s Ceramics Gallery is one of two galleries dedicated to the exhibition A Shared Journey: The Barkan Contemporary Ceramic Collection. Photo by Michael Rose.

For a teaching institution like the RISD Museum, such a gift is an important one. Alongside visitors from the public, generations of students will benefit from an expanded ceramics collection. Whether working in clay or in other media, artists of all kinds can learn from this body of work and the skilled artists represented in it. A Shared Journey is a joy to explore, to look at closely, and to return to more than once. Notable in its scope and impact, this is an exhibition that viewers should not miss.

As A Shared Journey nears its conclusion, Williams is considering what she hopes museumgoers bring home with them from the galleries. She says, “I hope that visitors take away a sense and expanded appreciation of the expressive capacity of clay, and limitless ways in which artists have embraced it as a viable medium for contemporary art, a trajectory that continues to gather strength today.”

A Shared Journey: The Barkan Contemporary Ceramic Collection is on view at the RISD Museum in Providence, Rhode Island through April 5, 2026. Learn more and plan your visit at www.risdmuseum.org.

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