About The Bray

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, The Bray is located three miles from downtown Helena, Montana, on the site of the former Western Clay Manufacturing Company. Set against the wooded foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the 26-acre former brickyard is internationally recognized as a gathering place for emerging and established ceramic artists. The nearby mountains and brick factory ruins provide a backdrop for the creative environment; more important is the dynamic arts community created by the resident artists that continue to come to The Bray to work, share experiences, and explore new ideas.

A new attitude towards clay.

Rudy Autio, Lillian Boschen and Peter Voulkos were the first resident managers of The Bray. The volume and quality of their work drew attention to the new program and attracted many talented and ambitious potters. A landmark workshop in 1952, with potters Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach, and philosopher Soetsu Yanagi, had a profound influence on both Autio and Voulkos. Neither had seen clay treated so loosely and freely.

Since its inception, The Bray has drawn more than 600 ceramic artists from around the world.

These include such well-known ceramists as Betty Woodman, Theaster Gates, Jun Kaneko, Virgil Ortiz, Patti Warashina, John and Andrea Gill, Cauleen Smith, Eva Kwong, Sharif Bey, Beth Cavener, Chris Antemann, Chris Staley, Zemer Peled and Akio Takamori among many others.

EXPANSION OF PROGRAMS OVER THE YEARS:

Directors Ken Ferguson, David Shaner, and Dave Cornell worked hard at The Bray in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, to establish a sound financial base by selling pots, clay, and ceramic supplies, and by offering classes and workshops. Kurt Weiser's tenure as Resident Director at The Bray from 1977 to 1988 saw an expansion of the clay business with Chip Clawson as manager, and a successful fundraising effort to purchase the brickyard after it closed in 1960. Carol Roorbach became Resident Director in 1989, establishing a permanent endowment. Roorbach also initiated procedures for improved storage and documentation of the extensive and growing Bray permanent collection.

Josh DeWeese became Resident Director in 1991, and worked to establish a Resident Artist Scholarship fund which helps residents to enjoy studio space rent-free. In addition, The Bray now offers a growing number of resident artist fellowships which provide annual stipends for juried resident artists, and the Peter Voulkos Fellowship Fund supports an annual visiting artist award to a prominent, world-renowned ceramic artist to work at The Bray.

Most notably, The Bray, under DeWeese's leadership, successfully completed a $2.5 million capital campaign to construct a state-of-the-art resident studio facility, expand endowment and strengthen annual operations.

CELEBRATING MILESTONES AND MORE:

Upon DeWeese’s retirement in 2006, Steven Young Lee accepted the position as Resident Artist Director. In 2008 and as part of a Comprehensive Kiln Project, seven new state-of-the-art, energy-efficient kilns were installed in the Shaner Studio’s kiln room, both reducing costs to artists and dramatically increasing the range of work resident artists can create.

A celebration of The Bray’s 60th anniversary in 2011 featured a three-day artist symposium that brought together artists from around the globe and raised more than a half-million dollars. Further, also beginning in 2011, The Bray received the first of two, two-year grants from the Windgate Charitable Foundation that, along with generous support from individual donors, have made it possible for The Bray to provide fellowship and scholarship support to all of its 10 long-term and 10 summer resident artists.

In 2022, Rebecca Harvey became the Executive Director of The Bray and continues the work of enhancing facilities and educational opportunities to meet the needs of today’s ceramic artists.

ORAL HISTORIES

The Oral History project promotes and sustains The Bray mission by documenting its history for future generations to experience and share. The Bray is an important hub for diverse ceramic artists who become part of the Helena community for the duration of their stay, and many settle in the surrounding area after their residency. Each artist leaves a piece of art for The Bray permanent collection, but this alone does not adequately document their lived experience in Helena. These oral histories document their lives in a holistic way, looking at their time from the perspective of an artist’s experience at The Bray, their experiences in MT, and how this contributes directly to Montana’s vibrant and diverse arts community and culture. The project also features past resident artists who have gone on to have careers in ceramics in MT and abroad. Interviews contrast how time at The Bray helped set up artists for a creative future, and how The Bray helped make Helena a cosmopolitan arts hub with national and international connections.

Listen to oral histories through the Montana Memory Project here.