Archie Bray Foundation

If you strongly believe in the Bible or the Qur’an, Adam, the first man, was pinched together from clay.  The name and the medium are important.  Adam means “to be red” in Hebrew.   Red clay is the precise interpretation in the Qur’an.  In this sense, God was the first potter.

Here in Helena, Montana, all these years later, we have the Archie Bray Foundation.  The founder, Archie Bray, according to the official Bray website, was an avid patron of the arts.  He wanted to “make available for all who are seriously interested in the ceramic arts, a fine place to work.”  With that vision in mind, Bray set up a studio on the grounds of what was once Western Clay Manufacturing Company, a brick making company. 

Western Clay Manufacturing began producing products on the grounds three miles outside the City of Helena in the 1880s and operated continuously until 1961.  The company made both brick and clay tile products.  Members of the Bray family were involved with the company for most of the seventy-five years of operation.  Many of the buildings in Helena and the towns around are constructed with products manufactured by Western Clay Manufacturing.

Archie Bray set up his studio in 1951 and almost immediately attracted worldwide attention.  Dozens upon dozens of famous artists have been drawn to the Bray since 1951.  The Bray is known for the “free” treatment of clay.  The only limits are those found within the artist’s imagination.  Archie Bray Foundation hosts both long-term and short-term artists in residence from all across the globe.

Yesterday, that girl and I spent part of the afternoon wandering around the old brick making facility.  We wandered through the red bee hive kilns, gas piping, leaning wood structures, antique wheels, belts, wooden boxes, stacks of brick.  We also visited the classrooms and studios.  The Bray continues to make clay for artists and ships to all points. 

I am fascinated by how differently each artist treats the clay.  The diversity of imagination is breathtaking.  I have posted only a few of the photographs captured from our wanderings through the Bray.

You must see, feel, and hear the Archie Bray Foundation to fully understand it.

--Mitchell Hegman