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Alice Cling

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Alice Williams Cling
Born
Alice Williams

(1946-03-21) March 21, 1946 (age 79)
Cow Springs, Arizona U.S.
NationalityNavajo Nation, American
Other namesAlice Williams Cling
EducationIntermountain Indian School
Occupation(s)Navajo potter
Ceramicist
Years active1976-present

Alice Williams Cling (Navajo, born March 21, 1946)[1] is a Native American ceramist and potter known for creating beautiful and innovative pottery that has a distinctive rich reds, purples, browns and blacks that have a polished and shiny exteriors, revolutionizing the functional to works of art.[1][2] Critics have argued that she is the most important Navajo potter of the last 25 years.[3][4]

Early life

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Cling was born in Cow Springs, Arizona, in the Tonalea area of the Navajo Nation.[1][2]

In 1966, Cling graduated from the Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah.[1][5]

Career

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Cling learned the craft of pottery from her mother, Rose Williams, and her great-aunt, Grace Barlow. The pots are created from clay found near the Black Mesa area in Apache-Navajo Counties in Arizona, and are then fired outdoors using juniper wood, with the firing process enhancing the clay's natural pigments.[6] Cling and her mother and aunt were responsible for revitalizing traditional Navajo pottery.[7]

Cling is a coil potter, and was the first Navajo potter to use a smooth river stone to polish her pots instead of the traditional corncob.[8][9] Her pottery is considered non-utilitarian, which represented a huge shift from function to art.[2][10]

In 1978, Cling's work was selected by Joan Mondale and featured in the vice-presidential mansion in Washington, D.C. and she was honored with the Arizona Indian Living Treasures Award in 2006. Cling's work is in the collection of the Smithsonian.[11]

Personal life

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Cling learned her pottery skills from her mother, master potter Rose Williams.[1][12] She lived across the highway from her mother in Shonto, Arizona.[1] Following in the family tradition, Cling's daughters are also artists, as are her sisters, Sue Ann Williams, and Susie Williams Crank.[5]

Cling married Jervis "Jerry" Cling shortly after graduating from high school.[1] They had four children.[2] She works and lives in the Shonto-Cow Springs area in Arizona.[1]

Collections

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Awards

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  • 2006: Arizona Indian Living Treasures Award[14]

Selected works

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Booker, Margaret Moore (2011). "Cling, Alice". In Marter, Joan M. (ed.). The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-73926-4. OCLC 701369915.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Congdon, Kristin G.; Hallmark, Kara Kelley, eds. (2012). "Alice Williams Cling". American Folk Art: A Regional Reference. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 487–488. ISBN 978-0-313-34936-2. OCLC 721891434.
  3. ^ Iverson, Peter; Roessel, Monty (2003). Diné: A History of the Navajos. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 313–314. ISBN 978-0-826-32715-4. OCLC 491094601.
  4. ^ Bataille, Gretchen M.; Lisa, Laurie (2005). Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis. p. 336. ISBN 978-1-135-95587-8. OCLC 909403141.
  5. ^ a b "Alice Williams Cling (1946 - )". Adobe Gallery, Santa Fe.
  6. ^ Peterson, Susan (1997). Ressler, Susan R. (ed.). "Alice Cling". Women Artists of the American West. Purdue University.
  7. ^ Hartman, Russell P.; Tanner, Clara Lee (introduction by); Trimble, Stephen (photographs by) (1987). "Chapter 6. Revitalization of Navajo Pottery and Chapter 7. Contemporary Pitch-Coated Navajo Pottery". In Musial, Jan (ed.). Navajo Pottery: Traditions & Innovations. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Press. ISBN 978-0-873-58430-2. OCLC 16518200.
  8. ^ Rosenak, Chuck; Rosenak, Jan (1994). "Alice Cling". The People Speak: Navajo Folk Art. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Pub. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-0-873-58565-1. OCLC 29219259.
  9. ^ Mountain, Michele (21 July 2009). "Navajo traditions expressed at MNA arts, culture festival". Navajo-Hopi Observer.
  10. ^ Swisher, Karen Gayton; Benally, AnCita (1998). Native North American Firsts. Detroit, MI: Gale. pp. xliii, 13. ISBN 978-0-787-60518-6. OCLC 36994787.
  11. ^ "Alice Cling". Smithsonian American Art Museum.
  12. ^ Rosenak, Chuck; Rosenak, Jan (1990). "Alice Cling". Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists. New York, NY: Abbeville Press. pp. 76–77, 359. ISBN 978-1-558-59041-0. OCLC 22183658.
  13. ^ "Spencer Museum of Art | Collection - Cling, Alice Alice Cling". collection.spencerart.ku.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  14. ^ "Alice Cling". Arizona Indian Living Treasures Awards. 2006.

Further reading

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  • Bataille, Gretchen M; Lisa, Laurie (2005). Native American women: a biographical dictionary. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-95587-8.
  • Rosenak, Chuck; Rosenak, Jan (1998). Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists. New York: Abbeville. ISBN 978-1-55859-041-0.
  • Swisher, Karen Gayton; Benally, AnCita (1998). Native North American firsts. Detroit, Mich.; London: Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-0518-6.
  • Laffal, Florence; Laffal, Julius (2013). American self-taught art: an illustrated analysis of 20th century artists and trends with 1,319 capsule biographies. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-7519-3.
  • Ressler, Susan R (2011). Women artists of the american west. Jefferson: Mcfarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6438-8.
  • Makov, Susan; Eddington, Patrick (1997). Trading post guidebook: where to find the trading posts, galleries, auctions, artists, and museums of the Four Corners region. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Pub. ISBN 978-0-87358-612-2.
  • Rosenak, Chuck; Rosenak, Jan; Rosenak, Chuck (1998). Navajo folk art: the people speak. Flagstaff, Ariz.: Northland Pub. ISBN 9780873586931. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  • Hartman, Russell P (1989). Navajo pottery. Traditions and innovations. Flagstaff: Northland Publ. ISBN 978-0-87358-430-2.
  • Iverson, Peter; Roessel, Monty (2003). Diné a history of the Navajos. Albuquerque [N.M.: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-2715-4.
  • Hartman, Russell P.; Tanner, Clara Lee (introduction by); Trimble, Stephen (photographs by) (1987). "Chapter 6. Revitalization of Navajo Pottery and Chapter 7. Contemporary Pitch-Coated Navajo Pottery". In Musial, Jan (ed.). Navajo Pottery: Traditions & Innovations. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Press. ISBN 978-0-873-58430-2. OCLC 16518200.
  • Laffal, Florence; Laffal, Julius (2003). American Self-Taught Art: An Illustrated Analysis of 20th Century Artists and Trends with 1,319 Capsule Biographies. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-786-41669-1. OCLC 52602764.
  • Peterson, Susan (1997). Pottery by American Indian Women: The Legacy of Generations (Exhibition catalog). New York, NY: Abbeville Press. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-789-20353-3. OCLC 36648903. – Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., Oct. 9, 1997-Jan. 11, 1998 and at the Heard Museum, Phoenix, Feb. 18-Apr. 18, 1998
  • Wright, H. Diane; Bell, Jan (1987). "Potters and their work". Plateau. 58 (2). Flagstaff, AZ: Museum of Northern Arizona: 24–31. OCLC 15686775.
  • Wright, H. Diane (1987). "Navajo Pottery: Contemporary Trends in a Traditional Craft". American Indian Art. 12 (2): 26–35.
  • "Alice Cling". The Clarion. 13. New York, NY: Museum of American Folk Art: 36–37. 1988. ISSN 0197-6850. OCLC 4279936.
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