SculptureCenter was founded as Clay Club in 1928 by sculptor Dorothea Denslow. While Clay Club’s art courses and exhibitions generally took place in Denslow’s Brooklyn studio, or, slightly later, in a carriage house on West 8th Street, the organization’s artists and students gathered on Staten Island every summer from 1928 to 1939 to picnic and collectively build temporary monumental sculptures out of natural clay.
In August, SculptureCenter will revive its founding summer tradition. SculptureCenter’s Long Island City exhibition space will open to the public as a large-scale community sculpture studio, with two thousand pounds of clay available for free use or participation in artist-led activities.
Join us on Saturday, August 19 from 10am to 2pm for music, food, and drop-in art projects. This community event is family-friendly, free, and open to the public.
Dance of the Mudmixers Compilation of 16mm archival footage of Clay Club’s summer picnic on Staten Island