Winter E-News CORRECTION:
Our sincere apologies.The donation information supplied through our Winter E-News was incorrect. The information from the American Association of Museums was misinterpreted as applicable to all donations for January of 2011. Unfortunately, it applies only to IRA roll-overs. Below are the accurate details.

IRA Rollover, Other Tax Provisions Extended . . .
The IRA Rollover which allows individuals aged 70½ and older to donate up to $100,000 from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) to public charities without incurring tax penalties -- was extended through 2011 as part of a year-end compromise by President Obama and Congress on a range of tax issues. Given the late-in-the-year (December 17) passage of the bill, it also allows taxpayers through January 31, 2011 to make donations that can be claimed on 2010 taxes. The larger bill also cuts payroll taxes, temporarily extends unemployment benefits, and adjusts the estate tax rates.

If you made a donation to us in January because of the information you received via E-News and you wish to reconsider your gift, please call THF: 707-431-8453.

Tile Heritage Revamps Website
With your support and after nearly three months of reconstruction with the expert assistance and direction of Tile Heritage member and (exceptional!) volunteer, Alistair Hamilton, the Foundation’s website has been revamped utilizing an entirely different approach.

We have a Great, Fresh, New look!

Using Rapid Weaver software our site is now a 'perpetual posting' site with multiple pages dedicated to the most important aspects of our mission as well as an 'online store' for membership, books, catalogs & tiles and an additional link to purchase "THF Logo Gear." It's user friendly, connects to our former web archives, expands our ability technically to communicate well, and provides valuable educational tools for you, our members, for the tile industry and for the community at large! Check it out today! http://www.tileheritage.org/

Keep sending images of historic tile installations as well as stories and pictures about your personal projects and accomplishments - and thank you for your loyal Support!

(Some aspects of the new site are still “under construction" as we re-link to the breadth and depth of our past and current collections and connections.)




Mystery Tile!
This mystery tile is one of sixty-five left over when a Southern California house was built in the late 1920s or early 1930s—they were never installed. The tiles measure 7 1/4" square, are 2" thick and are double-sided and reticulated. The glaze is very thick

and the clay is a very light tan. The photos are accurate as to color. If anyone can help figure out who made this tile, it would be very much appreciated.

Giorgini Celebrates NYPL Centennial
Frank Giorgini, author of Handmade Tiles and a lifetime Tile Heritage member, has been commissioned to design and produce the Centennial Commemorative Tile for the New York Public Library—a 6” x 6” high-relief, cone 6 stoneware with his signature bronze patina Toshika glaze.

According to the Library the tile commemorates the centennial of the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building—the Beaux-Arts landmark on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in New York City. Each museum quality, bas-relief sculpted, stoneware tile is handmade, glazed and fired by Frank Giorgini in his Freehold, NY studio.

The Library’s most identifiable icons are its beloved lions, Patience and Fortitude. They have been standing guard at the New York Public Library for a century. This commemorative tile depicts a lion perched on a book in front of the facade of the Schwarzman Building. Each tile is hand-dipped in the glaze, so there are slight variations in the green bronze patina from tile to tile.

This limited first edition of 300 numbered tiles is truly collectible.

Frank Giorgini is one of the foremost ceramic artists working in the United States today. In 1995 he received the prestigious Tile Heritage Foundation's Tile Heritage Award. His best-selling book, Handmade Tiles (Lark Books, 1994), explains his innovative tile fabrication, glazing, and decoration techniques, which have become the standard of the handmade-tile profession. Giorgini is recognized as one of the most collectible contemporary tile artists.

Frank Giorgini’s artwork is in private and public collections in the United States, including the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and abroad. He has been awarded several public art commissions for the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) Arts for Transit. His custom-made public pieces are on display in the Whitehall Street subway station (New York, NY) and the Utica Project, Lippmann Plaza, (Queens, NY).

To purchase one of the limited edition tiles, go to www.nypl.org or simply click on the Library Store!


Feats of Clay
Each year the Tile Heritage Foundation encourages contemporary ceramic tile art with the Tile Heritage Prize, a monetary acknowledgment for an artist chosen by the juror of an exhibition. The prize is given for the tile that, in the juror’s opinion, best reflects the ceramic traditions in North America.

In 2010 at Feats of Clay presented by Lincoln Arts in Lincoln, California, the Tile Heritage Prize was won by Nancy McCroskey for her “White Covering with Paw Paw Leaves,” a terra-cotta relief measuring 12” x 18” x 4” colored with slips and stains. Nancy, a longtime member of Tile Heritage, is best known for her low relief ceramic wall murals. Her imagery falls into the category of late 20th century artists involved in developing biomorphic abstraction and enriching it with more direct and complex natural reference. Nancy is an Associate Professor of Fine Art and head of the ceramics program at Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

The juror, William Van Gilder, has been a professional potter for more than 30 years. He apprenticed in Ireland and England and received a degree from Harrow School of Art, London. He then established and managed two large teaching/training centers in Southern Africa (Lesotho and Swaziland) under the auspices of The World Bank. Returning to the U.S. in 1979, Bill established a studio and craft gallery atop South Mountain in Central Maryland, which he continues to operate today. He served on the faculty of The Art League, Alexandria, Virginia and is the founder/director of The Frederick Pottery School in Frederick, Maryland.

Feats of Clay brings together the best of contemporary ceramic art displayed in the historic Gladding, McBean terra-cotta factory. The competition has become one of the most important shows in the nation. A winning entry - or even a piece displayed in the hotly contested (over 1,000 entries are received yearly) show - is an impressive addition to any artist’s resume.

The prospectus for Feats of Clay 2011 is now a click away! Deadline for entries is February 4th. This year’s juror is Donna Billick, nationally recognized ceramic and mosaic artist who for many years served on the board of directors at Tile Heritage.


Steve Hilton Wins Prix Primo with “My Causeway”
The winner of the 18th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition in the Tile Heritage Prix Primo category was Steve Hilton, a full time ceramics and art education faculty member at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. His prize-winning, stoneware presentation, titled “My Causeway,” measures 6’ x 9’ x 14”.

Hilton wrote: “As a geologist and a clay artist, I have developed an appreciation for the anomalies in the many forms of life, clay, rock, and soil covering the Earth’s landscape. I am intrigued by the way plants, animals and weather influence the Earth’s surface by both erosional and depositional means. This fascination has become an integral part of my art.

“I am currently thinking about these iterations as I work. Looking at nature as fragmented or geomorphic shapes that are repeatedly subdivided into parts, each a smaller copy of the whole. The use of self-similarity in art allows me to interpret nature for the viewer and myself, hopefully with both of us seeing the natural world differently after spending time with my art.”

Steve Hilton finished his MFA in Ceramics at ASU in 2005. He also holds a MS degree in Art Education and a BS in Geology. He has taught astronomy, oceanography, environmental studies, art education, ceramics, 3-D design, sculpture, drawing, graphic design, and optical art at the secondary and post-secondary levels.



Terra-Cotta Research Funded
“American-Made Terra Cotta from the 1850s,” an extensive research project by his historians Jay Shockley and Susan Tunick, was funded by the Doty Research Grant Committee in 2010. The overall goal of the research project is to share, as widely as possible, the accumulated knowledge of 1850s American-made terra cotta, linking its manufacture, dissemination, use, and survival in select locations stretching from New England to the Deep South. With each new historical insight about these early structures and their context, their significance will be better understood. It has been through advocacy based on historic information that so many important late-19th century and early-20th century terra-cotta buildings have been successfully preserved.

Shockley and Tunick have teamed up on several similar research projects in recent years, and their work has been published in a number of scholarly publications. This current project has been inspired by the recent restoration of the exterior of the Cooper Union Building in New York City where previously unknown terra-cotta elements were discovered on the building. The Cooper Union was designed and built in the mid-1850s, a full twenty years prior to terra cotta’s second revival in the late 19th century.

Jay Shockley is a member of the senior research staff at the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, and Susan Tunick is a ceramic artist, preservationist and historian, recognized widely as the president of Friends of Terra Cotta.

The Doty Research Grant was established in 1992 to stimulate research in the field of ceramic history and conservation. Funded exclusively by Tile Heritage members who opt to donate funds in addition to their annual membership fees, the grants range from $500 to $5000. To date $28,000 has been granted, $5000 of which has been offered to Shockley and Tunick.

Every Pail Needs a Tale
Let's face it. Mixing mortars and grouts in buckets is the worst aspect of tile setting. We all know how bad the dust is to breathe. Even if one were to use an appropriate canister respirator, the health of others on the job site is negatively affected. Dustless mortars are being introduced but they don't eliminate the dust completely and they are costly.
WaleTale, recently introduced by Beaton Innovations, LLC, is an innovative new tool designed to significantly reduce dust generated by the mixing of grouts and mortars in buckets. The device clips onto the rim of a 5, 3 1/2 or 1 gallon bucket and in companion with a shop vac and HEPA filter allows the tile setter to safely and conveniently mix indoors. WaleTale is the first tool engineered for the tile setter to address the negative effects of the inhalation of free crystalline silica in the work environment. See www.waletale.net.

“For 23 years, Popular Science has honored the innovations that surprise and amaze us − those that make a positive impact on our world today and challenge our views of what’s possible in the future.” said Mark Jannot, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science. “The Best of What’s New Award is the magazine’s top honor, and the 100 winners − chosen from among thousands of entrants − represent the highest level of achievement in their fields.”

Latest News! e-Book Available from Ceramist Frank Colson, Tiles by Hand - A comprehensive and exciting eBook ready for reading on iPad, Kindle, Nook, and other digital eReaders.  CD availability.
http://www.buytilesbyhand.com/



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Tags: Join, Give from the heart, AMOCA, Stories, Mystery tile, NYLP, WaleTale, Mortar, Silica, Health, Feats of Clay, Doty Grant, Popular Science, Research, Shockley, McCroskey, Prix Primo, Hilton, Terra Cotta, Tunick