The University of Arizona
 

NEWS
RELEASE

Eight by Ten Foot Ceramic at Heart of New Exhibit

Date of Release: March 3, 2003

THE POTTERY DETECTIVES
March 29, 2003
1 - 4 p.m.
Arizona State Museum, north building
520-621-6302 or www.statemuseum.arizona.edu

Arizona State Museum is located on the UA campus, just east of the Main Gate at Park Avenue and University Boulevard in Tucson. The exhibit runs through Sept. 30, 2004

Gilbert Lozano is the artist at CemRock who created the initial, small-scale sculpture out of foam. Its massive form was then fashioned with rebar and chicken wire by Rand Rogers and Walt Maitland. Fiberglass sprayed over the structure by Southwest Fiberglass. A studio artist by training, Lozano has also created giant cacti, lizards, snakes, and dinosaurs for CemRock's many clients.

Story ideas related to this exhibit:
1) Philippino pottery/Bill Longacre
2) ASM's pottery collection/Save America's Treasures
3) Modern artists do demonstrations

(University of Arizona, Tucson) Walk into and around an 8-foot tall/10-foot wide ceramic vessel as part of a new exhibition at Arizona State Museum. Entitled THE POTTERY DETECTIVES, the exhibit features the over-life-sized pot replica as an interactive educational tool.

The pot's shape, design, decoration, food residues, clay, and evidence of manufacture will be visible in large scale. Each of these clues will be discussed in detail and you will learn how archaeologists "read" those clues to piece together information about the past. Perhaps most importantly, the exhibit will answer the questions of how and why archaeologists examine the past and why this is important to us today.

Fabricated by Tucson-based company, CemRock Landscapes and Naturalistic Environments, the Big Pot took shape at their south-side facility over the past two months - from miniature foam sculpture to rebar skeleton to a shower of fiberglass coating to final paint and decoration-- the process is truly a remarkable one (Photos of the various building stages are available).

CemRock has created interactive environments for museums, zoos and aquaria all over the country since 1978 (in addition to golf course, commercial, and residential landscape environments). "The educational value of our exhibit environments is limitless. We understand the message that educational institutions such as museums and zoos want to communicate - stimulation, interaction, preservation, and education," says Dave Taplin, CemRock's VP for marketing. CemRock has twice received the AZA's Exhibit of the Year award. Their list of clients includes the Shedd Aquarium, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World San Diego and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

"We came to CemRock with our idea for an oversized pot because we knew of their reputation," says ASM exhibit curator Russell Varineau, "Their attention to detail and interest in museum-quality educational projects is very impressive. People are so much more engaged, and learn so much more, when they can actually interact with an exhibit rather than just look at it." In addition to the Big Pot, the exhibit will feature an assortment of vessels from a variety of SW cultures, a replica of a Kalinga (a pottery-making culture from the Philippines) hut and hearth, video presentations and live demonstrations by potters.

Once completed, the massive structure will be transported to the museum (by next week), cut in 4 pieces, and installed in the exhibit gallery (call if you are interested in witnessing this monumental process).

A series of educational activities, family programs, and lectures is also planned throughout the duration of the 18-month exhibit.

A FREE public opening is scheduled for Saturday, March 29 from 1-4 p.m. Please join us!