The Alfred Ceramic Art Museum houses nearly 8,000 ceramic objects, from small pottery shards recovered from ancient civilizations to modern and contemporary ceramic art.
In 1900, the NY State College of Clay Working and Ceramics was founded at Alfred University, laying the foundation for the study of ceramic art and science for more than a century since.
The work of Alfred-educated ceramicists forms the core of the collection, providing a view into the progressive development of American contemporary ceramic art. In addition, the permanent collection has grown to include works by numerous American ceramic art masters, international ceramic artists, as well as Chinese funerary jars, tomb sculpture from the Neolithic period, Roman and Byzantine lamps, Nigerian market pottery and the Krevolin Collection of Pottery of the Ancient Americas.
Alfred Ceramic Art Museum celebrates all the visual arts within its exhibition cycle, while concentrating its collection policy on ceramic art.