Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Port Chester Art Exhibit Opens Tonight

There’s a pot-luck feast happening this weekend, but rather than a smorgasbord of appetizers, the table will be filled with pottery.

The folks at Clay Art Center will kick off their national invitational, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? with an opening reception tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. Showing off work by more than 100 Port Chester natives and others, the exhibition will consist entirely of plates and other functional pottery.

Unlike many others, this art showcase will not be the place to find another ornament for your hallway. Instead, the dishes from this salon-style exhibit will all be breakfast, lunch, and dinner-sized—perfect to pile on everythng from bacon and eggs to a steak dinner.

Curator Leigh Mickelson hopes that the plethora of different styles and levels of skill found in the display of tableware will not only provide examples to emulate for amateur potters, but will also provide an overview of what’s going on the American ceramics world.

“You get to see a variety of techniques, so it’s not only educational for students— it brings together the best of what’s happening in the field working around one common theme,” she said.

Those who regularly catch monthly shows at Clay Art Center may also recognize the contribution by artist Jon McMillan, whose statuesque collection, ‘Convergence,’ was exhibited .

Regardless of the end result, it would be incorrect to assume upon seeing a product of wheel throwing, fire-burning and hand-building, that the process came easily for the artist who created it.

On the contrary, the theme was a challenge for many established clay-makers whose works typically lean in a more abstract direction.

In sculpture molding like McMillan’s, for example, creators don’t usually have to worry about whether each rim and surface structure of their dinner dish will be able to adequately balance the meat, potatoes and greens of a full meal.

This was the case for artist Ariel Plantz, who took on this challenge when she stepped out of her sculptural comfort zone to fit in with Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

“I had to keep track of every single detail with everyday use in mind—will it be safe in the microwave? Will it be easy to wash?” she had to ask herself.

Plantz will display her art along with staff from the Clay Art Center, including Reena Kashyap, Leigh Mickelson, Andrew Coombs, Sally Aldrich, Tomoko Abe, and Priya Tambe. Twenty-five artists-in-residence part of the show.

Whether flaunted through an uncommon color, shape or stroke, the vast ‘dinner table’ will appear as a barrage of different personalities—touted in the signatures of the artists who contributed to it.

“I tried to keep my sculptural textures and designs similar to my usual work when making my piece for," said Plantz. "I’m seeing if those two things marry well together."

For those who are simply admirers, items will be available for sale upon request.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?  opens tonight at 6 p.m. and continues until March 5.