CONTRIBUTED

The name “Ben Owen” is synonymous with pottery in North Carolina, and the artist representing the third generation of that family’s craft tradition is being acknowledged with one of the state’s highest honors for creative excellence, as well as an exhibition of recently-produced work.

Potter Ben Owen III of Seagrove has been named the 2004 North Carolina Living Treasure by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and the exhibition “A Natural Influence: New Works by Ben Owen III” will open to the public Thursday, Feb. 5 at the Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum with a preview reception.

The Thursday, Feb. 5 award ceremony will take place during a 6 p.m. “Directors’ Circle” presentation in the Weyerhaeuser Reception Hall at the Cameron Art Museum.

This will be followed by a 7 p.m. preview reception for “A Natural Influence and Artists of Southeastern North Carolina: A Juried Exhibition,” which will run simultaneously in the museum’s Featured Exhibition Wing. At 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6, Ben Owen III will present a guest lecture and demonstration at UNC Wilmington to art students and faculty about the North Carolina pottery tradition, including his own work.

“I am honored and flattered that I was selected for this distinction in North Carolina,” said Owen. “We have such a great state and many wonderful artists that make it so unique. I am fortunate to have come from such a creative family and a family of potters in Seagrove. The preservation of talents in North Carolina is a vital part of our society. Most importantly, the support from the people of this state has made it possible for artists like me to pursue our creative endeavors in life.”

Thirty objects showcase Owen’s recent explorations in clay inspired by forms of nature. Owen incises the surface of his vessels, echoing a lapping wave or rippling sand ridge. Colors and textures of the natural world he reinterprets in such rich surfaces as salt, ash, mirror black or Chinese red glazes.

Owen continues a North Carolina pottery tradition in clay that dates back to colonial America. As an artist of the 21st century, he refines the utilitarian shapes of his forefathers into more contemporary lines and forms. His work is represented in museum collections including the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Mint Museum of Art and the Ohio Craft Museum.