Morehead State University’s Kentucky Folk Art Center has announced its upcoming exhibition “The Things We Made: Decorative Works from Lee Clay Products.” The opening reception will be held Thursday, Feb. 7, from 5-7 p.m.

It will remain on display through May 25.

The exhibition will have dozens of pieces made at the Lee Clay Products plant in Rowan County and feature large urns, crockery, planters and other one of a kind pieces.

The show will include 20 large format photographs from the Andre Bowne family collection at Rowan County Public Library.

In 1900, a corporation formed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania focused its attention and capital on Rowan County. By 1905, the Clearfield Lumber Company had constructed a massive sawmill along Triplett Creek south of Morehead. A rail line was completed by 1907, and by 1908 a company town named Clearfield was springing up around it. Then in 1920, with the last of the region’s great virgin forests nearly gone, the company began looking for a way to generate additional profits from its large land holdings. High quality clay deposits were found.

The first kiln at the new Lee Clay Products Company opened on October 15, 1925. Until the plant’s closing in 1970, it used locally mined clay to produce vast quantities of fire brick, chimney toppers, sewer pipe, and septic tanks.
However, workers at the plant also produced decorative items, and those items are the focus of this exhibition. These pieces were not a source of profits for the company. Rather, most were given away as promotional items, and workers were often given the culls. Today these works are becoming increasingly sought after on the collector’s market.

“The idea for this exhibition came from Richard Mook, a member of our advisory board,” said Matt Collinsworth, KFAC director. “We believe it will be a show of great interest to many people throughout the region. Not only are there many fine pieces included in the exhibition, but these works also tell a story about the age of Appalachian and American industry.

“Many of the materials used to build America were produced in central Appalachia, and our region is dotted with former industrial sites. While not all stories from that period are happy ones, this exhibition stands as a reminder of the time when we made good things and as a tribute to the people who made them.”

Kentucky Folk Art Center is a cultural, educational and economic development service of MSU. The Center is open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call 606-783-2204 or go to www.kyfolkart.org.