Common Ground

To celebrate the new millennium—in 2000—artist Neil Tetkowski undertook a Herculean project: gathering clay from all 188 member countries of the United Nations. With these clay samples, Tetkowski created a suitably monumental work that debuted at United Nations headquarters in New York City—the Common Ground World Mandala. Measuring seven feet in diameter and more than nine feet high, Tetkowski’s sculpture is a testament to the artist’s ability to think beyond boundaries—of scale, of geography, and of politics.

Common Ground uses Tetkowski’s World Mandala as the centerpiece of an exhibition that showcases the Everson’s vast collection of world ceramics. From ancient Mesopotamian and Greek pottery to contemporary Zulu beer brewing vessels and a life-size terra-cotta horse built by Indian priests, the Everson’s collection traces the evolution of ceramics across cultures over thousands of years. Common Ground uses ceramics, one of humankind’s oldest art forms to remind us of our shared bonds with the earth.

Steve Smith
Talking Earth, 1993
Porcelain, 9¾ x 6½ inches
Everson Museum of Art; Gift of Mary Jean and Thomas Deaver, 93.35

Steve Smith
Talking Earth, 1993
Porcelain, 9¾ x 6½ inches
Everson Museum of Art; Gift of Mary Jean and Thomas Deaver, 93.35

Chinese, T’ang Dynasty (618-907)
Standing Groom
Earthenware, 17 x 7 x 5½ inches
Everson Museum of Art; Gift of Joseph Rondina, 1998.6.2