pottery for generations

Indio, CA 2023-2024

Pottery for Generations is a community-based non-profit program sponsored by the California Arts Council and the Inland SoCal Creative Corps that uses food traditions and clay to unite families and bring people together. Participants learn basic clay skills, then design and create a ceramic serving dish for their most meaningful family recipe. The resulting heirloom memorializes a tradition of their past to carry into the future. At the end, we come together for a final potluck where we share and celebrate our art, food, and stories with our community.

The Process:

  1. At least two family members from two generations signed up for the 10-week class together.

  2. The first five classes participants learned and practiced basic hand building skills and surface decoration techniques. 

  3. The elder generation taught the younger generation a meaningful family recipe. They were given a stipend to buy ingredients and cook together in their own home, documenting the process in pictures and writing to pass onto future generations.

  4. During the second five classes family members collaborated to design, build, and decorate a ceramic serving dish for their traditional family recipe.

  5. Using a second stipend, families purchased ingredients and cooked their recipe again. They brought the food to our potluck in tupperwares. When they arrived they saw their finished work of art for the first time and put their food into their handmade ceramic serving dish. 

  6. At our final potluck celebration we shared our history, memories, traditions, and rituals around our recipe, and then we all ate together.

  7. Lauren published a recipe book that includes the recipes and the family’s stories from all three sessions.

  8. We will have a final celebration when the cookbook is released, bringing all three sessions together.

Project Goals:

  • Increase community and family belonging

  • Increase pride in our cultures and traditions, ultimately our identities

  • Increase our value of elders

  • Bring mindfulness to aesthetic appreciation and how we view objects that surround us

  • Improve mental health and reduce stress

  • Increase attitude and readiness of community members to engage in activities that support social-justice outcomes

Video by Sean Daigle at Memoria Films

Featured
Borscht by Nadia, mother & Maria, daughter Nadia described the origin of the recipe: “I know the tradition came from my great-great-grandmother.” While both of Nadia’s parents were born in the USSR, her mother Lidia was from Ukrainian territ

Borscht
by Nadia, mother & Maria, daughter

Nadia described the origin of the recipe: “I know the tradition came from my great-great-grandmother.” While both of Nadia’s parents were born in the USSR, her mother Lidia was from Ukrainian territory, and her father was Russian. After the war, Lidia moved to Russian territory with him. Nadia and Maria were both born in Russia but continue some of the Ukrainian traditions passed down from Lidia. Borscht has many regional variations, but is widely recognized for its signature deep red color that comes from beets. Those familiar with slavic soups may recognize Nadia and Maria’s recipe as Ukrainian because of its ingredients, specifically the presence of garlic and absence of meat. Maria said, “My mom believes in soup almost religiously. She would say, ‘if a family eats soup every night, then they are doing fine.’” They believe that if a family member puts the love and time into cooking a healthy soup, then there is love and stability. They would all sit down together for the large meal of the day, about 3:00 PM in their culture, and share the food that kept the family going. Nadia proudly said, “I know that my recipe of borscht and much more will be passed to the future by my daughter.”

Borscht by Nadia, mother & Maria, daughter The design of Nadia and Maria’s soup tureen was very well researched. They looked at examples of Ukrainian pottery and Soviet-era enamel pots for inspiration. This influenced their simple design and

Borscht
by Nadia, mother & Maria, daughter

The design of Nadia and Maria’s soup tureen was very well researched. They looked at examples of Ukrainian pottery and Soviet-era enamel pots for inspiration. This influenced their simple design and color scheme. The flower pattern around the belly of the pot is from papel picado, a Mexican tissue paper tradition, which was designed by Maria’s sister-in-law for Maria’s wedding. Maria visually merged these cultures together to reflect that her own family is beautifully multicultural.

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Photos by Jamie Morreale