The Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art at Alfred houses nearly 8,000 ceramic and glass objects, ranging from small pottery shards recovered from ancient civilizations to contemporary sculpture and installation pieces to advanced ceramics reflecting the cutting edge of ceramic technology. The Museum is a teaching and research facility, one educational component of the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.

In 1900, Charles Fergus Binns was appointed as the founding director of the New York State School of Clay-Working and Ceramics, now known as the College of Ceramics. Thus, the study of ceramic art and science was established as the educational focus at Alfred and has remained so for more than a century.

In the early 1900's as Binns taught pottery making, glaze and clay recipes, and ceramic history, a small "museum " was established where groupings of student and faculty work could be displayed for study, enjoyment and discussion. Collections were amassed almost independent of scholarly direction. Nearly ninety years later, in 1991, a Museum was formally established at Alfred. The Museum celebrates American ceramics, but within the broader context of worldwide ceramic creativity and history, a history representing thousands of years.

The outstanding collection of graduate thesis ceramics created by Alfred-educated ceramists is unique to Alfred and historically has formed the core of the collection. The permanent collection has grown to include works by internationally recognized ceramic artists such as Rosanjin, Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, and Lucie Rie as well as Chinese funerary jars and tomb sculpture from the Neolithic Period, Roman and Byzantine lamps, Nigerian market pottery, European dinnerware, and products of American whiteware companies. Also represented are advanced ceramics, including a femoral hip joint replacement and a ceramic (zirconia) watch.

Internationally recognized American artists represented in the Museum's permanent collection include Charles F. Binns, Anne Currier, Val Cushing, Ruth Duckworth, Ken Ferguson, Andrea and John Gill, Vivika and Otto Heino, Wayne Higby, Karen Karnes, Howard Kottler, Harrison MacIntosh, Theodore Randall, Daniel Rhodes, Mary Roettger, David Shaner, Ellen Shankin, Robert Turner, Peter Voulkos, Beatrice Wood, Betty Woodman, and Eva Zeisel, to name just a few.
 

Why is the Museum called the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art?  In October 1999, the Alfred University Board of Trustees voted to re-name the International Museum of Ceramic Art the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art in honor of Alfred University Trustee Pamela Joseph and her late husband Jay Schein, who was a member of the Alfred University class of 1962 and a former member of the AU Board of Trustees. In 1994, Pamela Joseph donated $2 million to establish an endowment fund to provide operational support for the museum.

The Museum is currently located in a temporary1500 sf gallery in Binns-Merrill Hall on the Alfred University campus. Click here for information on visiting the Museum. Museum membership information is available online, or by contacting The Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art, Membership Office, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, New York 14802. Benefits to members include a subscription to the Museum newsletter, "Ceramophile," and invitations to celebrate special exhibitions and educational programs, and invitations to participate in Museum-sponsored trips. For more information phone 607-871-2421 or write Email Us.