“Predictive Dream,” Aoki Katsuyo (Japanese, born 1972), Porcelain, 2005, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, Gift of Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2010.1661.

Elisabeth Essner, Windgate Foundation Associate Curator of Craft, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

In this lecture, hear from Elizabeth Essner, Windgate Foundation Associate Curator of Craft at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston about the Museum’s renowned Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio collection of contemporary ceramics.  Comprising nearly 500 objects by an international slate of artists, this talk will delve into the collection’s masterworks, the history behind these visionary collectors, and how these functional and sculptural works expand traditional ideas about ceramics.

Elizabeth Essner is the inaugural Windgate Foundation Associate Curator of Craft at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where she oversees the Museum”s modern and contemporary craft collection.  Elizabeth’s current projects include Going Underground:  The Jewels of Bernhard Schobinger, the first major US museum presentation of the avant-garde Swiss jewelry artist, co-curated with Cindi Strauss (2026), and a major retrospective of the Japanese American fiber artist Kay Sekimachi (2028).

Ralph Bacerra
Untitled Jar
2000
Whiteware
2007.760.A,.B