“There’s so much art in the world … so we’ll always miss stuff,” Alex Farac PZ ’25 said.
This sentiment is at the heart of “In the Hands of the Collector: The Fred Marer and Forrest L. Merrill Collections” at this year’s Scripps College Ceramic Annual.
“The show tonight is a very historical show about ceramic history,” said Reniel del Rosario, a ceramicist who was selected to curate next year’s event.
On Feb. 1, artists and art enthusiasts alike buzzed around the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery for the “Annual,” as some more seasoned gallery-goers called it. Now, in its 80th year, the show celebrates the pieces of history one fears losing.
Scripps’ art department has long been part of the lifeblood of California’s artistic movements. This year, all 102 works shown at the Annual were pulled from the personal collections of Forrest L. Merril and Scripps’ Fred Marer Collection of Ceramics.
The Marer Collection’s crown jewel remains the ceramic work of the West Coast “Otis Group,” of the Otis College of Art and Design, led by ceramics star Peter Voulkos. Even before Marer’s donation in 1978, Scripps College played an important role in California ceramics history. Paul Soldner — among Voulkos’ most famous students — joined the College’s ceramics faculty in 1956.
“This happens to be our biggest event of the year,” said gallery installer and ceramicist T. Pacini. “And of course, we’re the longest-running contemporary ceramic show in the country.”
The gallery space was packed full of works reflecting a range of formal styles and moments in West Coast ceramic history. “Although it’s a visual treat for all those people who love ceramics, there’s a wide variety of works being shown … functional, vessel, reference, abstract and sculptural — it’s a little crowded,” Pacini said.
Both ceramic artists and art historians have served as past curators for the Annual, each having the freedom to showcase a theme or specialization of their choice.
“For 80 years, [the Annual has] been showing artists showcasing other artists, and it’s always unique every single year,” said del Rosario.
This year’s show was guest-curated by Nancy M. Servis, an art historian specializing in ceramics and the former president of the National Conference of the Education of Ceramic Arts (NCECA). Pacini explained that Servis worked directly with Forrest Merrill and the Marer Collection before curating the Annual.
As an art historian, Servis set out to curate a collection that told the story of the history of ceramics in California.
“The role of a curator, as I see it, is a storyteller,” she said. “You come to a show with an idea and you want to make it as compelling and interesting and hopefully exciting as possible.”
The Merrill Collection was ripe for inspiration for Servis.
“[Merrill’s] got a great sense of connoisseurship,” she said. “He also likes to select works that are not necessarily the idea of what you think this artist would do. Which is a great way to collect the surprise pieces.”
According to Servis, there are certain pieces from the Marer Collection that get pulled for the Annual every year. The landmark pieces of this year’s Annual include four by Peter Voulkos himself and one by another well-known member of the Otis Group, Jerry Rothman.
But Servis did not just want to highlight the landmark pieces. Her mission was to create a complete picture of West Coast ceramics, not just its most famous artists. As part of her mission to represent different perspectives, Servis took care to include women just as much as men in her selections.
“California is a state that is popular with many people who came from somewhere else, so that’s a consideration,” Servis said. “I think the diversity of what you see here is linked to the diversity of our population and how different traditions came to California.”
“If you’re looking at contemporary ceramics, this is very, very, very different from what is going on in studios nowadays”
Looking around at the wide variety of ceramic works Servis selected, one would be hard-pressed to find a single commonality between all of them. And sure enough, attendees reported that they were pleasantly surprised by the unique personality of each piece.
“Most of [the pieces] are a very unique story where they kind of put their own character into each artwork,” said attendee Shasta Conner SC ’28.
Local artists also shared their appreciation for the ceramics.
“It’s interesting how you can go either abstract or realistic,” said sculptor and Scripps Fine Arts Foundation member Quincey Grace. “There’s an interesting blend of both here.”
Reflecting on the legacy of California ceramics, del Rosario reiterated the importance of celebrating history with retrospectives like this year’s Annual.
“If you’re looking at contemporary ceramics, this is very, very, very different from what is going on in studios nowadays,” said del Rosario.
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