Esoteric Survey

A reunion was held last weekend to bring together everyone who was involved in the Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape book and AMOCA exhibition . It was held at the home of Architectural Pottery co-founders Rita and Max Lawrence. Damon Lawrence and his wife now call it home and were amazing hosts. When Rita and Max Lawrence began their involvement with Architectural Pottery, they lived in a Gregory Ain house in the Mar Vista tract. They previously lived in the Ain Altadena tract and the Dunsmuir Flats apartments, where Damon was born. As Jeffrey states in the AP book, it was Ain who introduced the Lawrences to modernism.  The Lawrences were working with Ain to design a new home for the family in Bel Air, but were having issues with the City. In 1953 they moved into a Spanish Revival house in Bel Air, where the reunion was held. It was designed by Carleton Winslow Sr. He was part of  Bertram Goodhue's firm that designed the Los Angeles Central Library. On a...

  Downtown Modernism! April 26th, 2026 Market Hours are from 8AM-2PM Free Parking • Children under 12 are free • Dogs Welcome! 2901 Saco St. Los Angeles, CA 90058 More information:  https://ladowntownmodernism.com/ There's good stuff Good pups Really good pups And good people. Here's Keith York from Modern San Diego fan boying on Marilyn Kay Austin . 

  This past weekend AMOCA hosted a Panel discussion as part of the  Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape exhibition. It was a packed house. Someone from the museum said it was the most people they've had for an event like this. The first panel included three people who were personally connected to the Architectural Pottery.  Jo Lauria on the far left curated the exhibition and moderated the talk. To her right is Lee Whitten, then Marilyn Kay Austin in the middle and Damon Lawrence is on the right. Lee Whitten earned a master's degree in 1964 at UCLA under Laura Andreson and Bernie Kester. His first job in ceramics was at Architectural Pottery working under David Cressey. He was recommended to David by Andreson. This photo is a planter Cressey let Lee buy for $1.50, his hourly wage at the time. Lee said he liked the process of pushing the clay out from the interior of the form. Earth Cells were another favorite of his.  Although he was only at ...

Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape Curated by Jo Lauria, at AMOCA Jo, Dan Chavkin, Jeffrey Head, Gary Wexler and the AMOCA team put together a wonderful exhibition. Displaying this many pots is not an easy undertaking. The wall graphics and photos are great as well. It all started with La Gardo Tackett in 1949.  Tackett assigned his students at the California School of Art to create forms for modern homes. They held an exhibition of their work at a Evans & Reeves nursery, where Max and Rita (pictured with Tackett above) Lawrence saw the work. In 1950, the Lawrences partnered with two of the students, John Follis and Rex Goode, on a company they named Architectural Pottery.   LaGardo Tackett with a group of his designed Totems; Photo: George Szanik, 1957 Courtesy of Monacelli Press from the accompanying book, Architectural Pottery Ceramics for a Modern Landscape.   by Daniel Chavkin, Jeffrey Head, and Jo Lauria From the collection of JF C...