Alumni potter exhibits collection of Japanese ceramics

Art Exhibit: Dick Lehman – "Collected Meanings: Japanese Pottery and Travel Stories"
Reception: Sunday, Sept. 12 from 2 to 4 p.m.
Exhibit dates: On display thru Sept. 12, 2010
Location: Hershberger Art Gallery, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: Free and open to the public

GOSHEN, Ind. – Work, travel and friendship intersected for acclaimed local potter and 1976 Goshen College graduate Dick Lehman as he collected Japanese ceramics. His collection – including pieces by some of Japan's finest potters – is on display in the Goshen College Music Center's Hershberger Gallery until Sept. 12 in the exhibit "Collected Meanings: Japanese Pottery and Travel Stories." Lehman's interest in Japanese ceramics grew through travel to Japan and relationships with artists working there.

A reception for the exhibit will be held Sunday, Sept. 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Shiho Kanzaki was an especially important influence on Lehman and interaction between the two grew into a friendship that opened up possibilities for interchange and growth in Lehman's own work. Lehman wrote extensively about travel in Japan and the ideas that were nourished as a result. This exhibit includes a travelogue Lehman wrote for a Japanese website and numerous articles from Ceramics Monthly. Lehman's Goshen studio is now known across the United States and beyond. Part of his life as a potter these days includes entertaining guests from distances as far away as Japan.

The exhibit also includes ceramics by: Hamada Shoji, Kagami Shukai, Kumano Kuroemon, Shimaoka Tatsuzo, Kanzaki Shiho, Kohyama Yasuhisa and others.

In his artist's statement, Lehman wrote, "Can pottery transcend its role as object or commodity to become more than itself ... to become infused with memory and meaning ... to become gift? I believe so.

"Each of the works in this exhibition holds a story, reflects a relationship, and reminds me of travel and collection experiences. And through use over many years, some of these works have revealed insights that I would never have come to know by simply looking at them," he added.

Lehman has been a full-time potter and has owned and operated a comprehensive retail studio since 1981. His studio in the Old Bag Factory in Goshen offers more than 100 different functional and utilitarian pieces for the home and kitchen, and showcases his finest exhibition works.

Goshen College Professor of Art Merrill Krabill said, "We are so pleased to have this exhibit of work taken from Dick's collection. His studio has had such an impact on potters around the country and especially in this region. Japanese ceramics influenced the way Dick sees the world and, in turn, through his teaching, writing and studio work, Dick has changed the way we see."

The Hershberger Art Gallery, located in the Music Center, is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The building is accessible to people using wheelchairs and others with physical limitations.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction,"Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.