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Current Exhibition:
State Plates
A Special Exhibition by the International Museum of Dinnerware Design
at Gifts of Art Gallery, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan Taubman Health Center North 3D Gallery
1500 Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
September 5 – December 1, 2023, 8 am – 8 pm
Link to the State Plates exhibition page
Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, October 11, 2023, 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Modernism in Action: The Russel & Mary Wright Design Gallery at Manitoga
Allison Cross, Executive Director, Manitoga
Opened in May 2021, the award-winning Russel & Mary Wright Design Gallery at Manitoga tells the story of how the Wrights shaped modern American lifestyle – from early experiments in spun aluminum in the 1930s and the colorful rounded forms of American Modern and Iroquois Casual mix & match dinnerware to Japanese inspired patterns and textures decades later. Former bedrooms-turned-offices were transformed into a state-of-the art exhibition space physically connected to the interpretive rooms of the historic House and to an exterior terrace with stunning views of the Quarry Pool, dramatic stone ridge, and rising woodland landscape beyond. The display of over 200 objects is the only permanent, in-depth public exhibition of the Wrights’ product designs anywhere.
You may register for the free virtual presentation here, and we will send you a link the afternoon of the event.
The link to join the event will also be posted at the Ann Arbor District Library website (https://aadl.org/events/) about 15 minutes before the event.
Wednesday, November 8, 2023, 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Glidden Pottery: unique stoneware for the Mid-Century table
Margaret Carney
Glidden Pottery is a unique stoneware-bodied dinnerware and Artware that was produced in Alfred, New York from 1940 to 1957. Glidden Pottery utilized modern production methods of slipcasting or ram pressing, but each of the more than 300 shapes was individually glazed and hand-decorated. Glidden Parker was the genius behind the success of Glidden Pottery. Part of his genius was his designs and glazes, but additionally he knew to bring in other designers and glaze experts such as Fong Chow, Sergio Dello Strologo, Katherine Nelson, Marion Fosdick, Philip Secrest, Pat Parker, Fred Press, and others. Glidden Pottery was a commercial success. The designs won numerous awards including his patented trigger handle cup being selected for the Museum of Modern Art /Merchandise Mart of Chicago Good Design show. This presentation will highlight the rich history and inspirational Glidden Pottery designs, glazes, and decorations.
Margaret Carney is a ceramic historian with a Ph.D. in Asian art history, with a specialization in Chinese ceramics. She has taught the history of world ceramics at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and elsewhere; curated numerous exhibitions; presented lectures worldwide; and authored articles, catalogues and books about ceramics. She is the founding director of the International Museum of Dinnerware Design.
Recent Exhibitions:
Entomophagous Dining (Eating Insects)
Fifth Biennial National Juried Exhibition
presented by
The International Museum of Dinnerware Design
April 8 – August 26, 2023
An exhibition featuring artists and designers exploring how dining on insects (entomophagy) may be in our future, if not in our present.
Link to Entomophagous Dining On-Line Catalogue
Image: Janel Jacobson, Peeper & Mayfly, carved porcelain box, celadon glaze, Diam: 4.5”, 1992, IMoDD 2022.146, Museum Purchase.
Dining on Modernism
A special exhibition at
Palm Springs Modernism Show
February 17-20, 2023
Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs CA
Presented as part of MODERNISM WEEK 2023
New IMoDD Videos
Here is a sneak preview about IMoDD, in case you are not that familiar with what we have to offer. This YouTube video was recorded in April 2021, and inspired the Unforgettable Dinnerware series.
Visit our Viktor Schreckengost Gallery
Featuring design drawings donated by the Schreckengost family.
Virtual Exhibition opening December 21, 2021
We invited you to show us your wedding china. See what we received, along with some of our favorites from the IMoDD permanent collection.
Virtual Exhibition opening December 8, 2021
The International Museum of Dinnerware Design is getting out the special holiday dishes this year.
Diving into the Tantalizing Well of the Sea
an article by IMoDD Director Margaret Carney’s appeared in The Chicago FoodCultura Clarion, Issue 4, November 2021.
Colorful California Dinnerware
A special exhibition at Gifts of Art Gallery, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Taubman Health Center North 3D Gallery
September 7 – December 3, 2021
Breakfast
IMoDD’s Fourth Biennial Invitational and Juried Exhibition recently closed, but you can still experience it through the online catalogue …
The International Museum of Dinnerware Design was established in 2012 with the knowledge that dining is a shared experience that can bridge together different communities. We support all those standing up against the historic inequality and institutionalized racism experienced in the Black community. In solidarity, IMoDD, its board, and its staff continue to amplify equity, diversity, and inclusion and call our community to action with us in this commitment to change.
The International Museum of Dinnerware Design was established in 2012 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We are a charitable 501(c)(3) organization holding pop-up exhibitions until we get a bricks and mortar facility. The International Museum of Dinnerware Design has a curated collection of over 9000 objects.
The International Museum of Dinnerware Design celebrates a significant aspect of our daily lives. The permanent collection features international dinnerware from ancient to futuristic times; created from ceramic, glass, plastic, metal, lacquer, fiber, paper, wood and more.
The collection and related special exhibitions reveal a refreshing approach – featuring masterpieces of the tabletop genre created by contemporary artists, as well as notable historic dinnerware by the leading designers for industry, juxtaposed with an uncommon focus on non-functional fine art that references dining and a bit of kitsch thrown in for good measure.
Here’s the only museum in the world devoted exclusively to dinnerware, making new memories for every visitor. The Ann Arbor-based IMoDD brings enough dinnerware to each special exhibition to whet your appetite.
IMoDD, through its collections, exhibitions and educational programming, provides a window on our material culture, norms and attitudes towards food and dining. A delight for collectors, foodies, and visitors worldwide, IMoDD has been described as creating a dream museum one place setting at a time.