Excavating a Legacy: CCA and the One Ton Pot
March 31 – May 15, 2027
Artists' Legacy Foundation
California College of the Arts
Lost for decades, the One Ton Pot, built by Viola Frey and students in 1973 to commemorate a new studio, returns to CCA in the college’s final year.
CCA Campus Gallery
1480 17th StreetSan Francisco, CA 94107Wednesday 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Thursday–Friday 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Or by appointment.
Special Saturday hours, May 1 and May 15, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.
Free
ADA Accessible
This exhibition will include a family guide.
In 1973, Viola Frey and Arthur Nelson, ceramics faculty at California College of Arts and Crafts, along with students, built a massive vessel to celebrate the opening of the Noni Eccles Treadwell Ceramics Art Center. Dubbed the One Ton Pot, it vanished for decades, and was later discovered in a Petaluma bramble. The vessel, lost to time, became a legend and has now been excavated, marking its return to California College of the Arts (CCA) in the final months of the college’s operation.
The One Ton Pot’s story is one of communal memory and support. Alumna Noni Eccles’s devotion to ceramics funded a state-of-the-art studio built to Frey’s specifications. Alumni donated a ton of clay and gave students and instructors free reign. Students inscribed inside jokes, encouragement, and talismans on the sides of the pot, while Frey and Nelson filled in technical gaps and sliced the enormous pot into strata to fire. As the pot inscriptions tell us, it is “a strange gift freely given to give”.
Excavating a Legacy is an active research project in the form of an exhibition. In addition to archival research, the project engages contemporary artists Erik Scollon and Torreya Cummings to tell its story. And, more than 50 years later, CCA students and members of the community are invited to honor the spirit of collective-making the pot represents.
Exhibiting Artists
Art Nelson, Erik Scollon, Torreya Cummings, Viola Frey
One Ton Pot, California College of Arts and Crafts, 1973. Courtesy of CCA/C Archives of California College of Art Libraries, San Francisco
Exhibition Support
Supported by the California College of the Arts.
Artists' Legacy Foundation
Artists’ Legacy Foundation was founded by artists with the mission to support each other through awards and legacy stewardship. Viola Frey became our first Legacy Artist after her death in 2004. Through publications, research, and exhibitions, we help preserve and share her life and work.
California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts (CCA) educates students to shape culture and society through the study of art, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers free public events that engage the public in conversations promoting creative exploration across artistic practices.
Things to Do Around Here
The smells of roasting coffee often waft down to the Campus Gallery when roasters at Linea Coffee are doing their work. Serving smooth and balanced coffee alongside tasty pastries, their sunny parklet is a great place to watch the neighborhood go by.
Manuel Angeja, Installation Manager, California College of the Arts
JB’s Place is a multigenerational-run sandwich shop across the street.
Jaime Austin, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programming, California College of the Arts
There’s so much public art to see just a short walk away in Dogpatch. One of my favorites is Orbital, a 24-foot-tall sculpture by FUTUREFORMS (which is run by CCA faculty members Nataly Gattegno and Jason Kelly Johnson). It’s a contemporary garden folly that evokes organic forms found in nature, but also giant robots and futuristic space vehicles.
Jaime Austin, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programming, California College of the Arts