Taylor and Menzies
Named 2003 Cesery Award Winners

According to John J. Sekora, who submitted their nomination, "It is most fitting that in its centennial year, TCAA honors two individuals who have dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to preserving the history and culture of our great industry. I can't think of anyone more deserving than Joe and Sheila to join the exalted ranks of Cesery Award recipients."

Joe and Sheila co-founded the Tile Heritage Foundation in 1987. Joe, a writer and educator, serves as current president of the Foundation and editor of its publications. A frequent writer and lecturer on tile history, Joe has focused much of his research on the evolution of tile manufacturing in California.

Joe has been a principal contributor to numerous publications, including California Tile: The Golden Era 1910-1940, which will be published by Schiffer later this year. He began his love affair with ceramic tile in the 1970s when he worked at McIntyre Tile Company in Healdsburg, California.

Sheila serves as the Foundation's treasurer, the primary designer of THF publications and coordinator of its educational events. She is a craftswoman and mixed media artist with a background in stage set design and theater costume design. Sheila has traveled extensively in the United States, Great Britain, Portugal and Italy documenting historic and contemporary tile installations.

The passion of Joe Taylor and Sheila Menzies is best expressed in Sheila's own words. "I want to preserve tile, view it and live with it. I want to encourage tiles continued usefulness as well as promote its beauty. I want to see ceramic surfaces respected as the legitimate art form they are, a collage of personal and group statements in color and form which shape and blend with our lives."

The Tile Heritage Foundation

A wealth of information, knowledge and history resides in Healdsburg, California. Here visitors find the Tile Heritage Foundation and its energetic, dedicated co-founders Joe Taylor and Sheila Menzies.

Besides being an educational organization, THF is a repository of tile history and culture. The Foundation boasts open files on every domestic tile manufacturer, as well as cities, states, and prominent individuals who have shaped the industry. It also has available a growing library of photographic slides and prints and an ever-expanding collection of books, pamphlets, catalogs and magazines directly related to the heritage of ceramic tile.

For more information on the Tile Heritage Foundation, call (707) 431-8453 or email to foundation@tileheritage.org