POMONA, CA.- The American Museum of Ceramic Art presents On the River through the Valley of Fire: The Collaborative Ceramics of Frank Boyden & Tom Coleman, on view through February 14th, 2009. This exhibition features two ceramic artists who have come together to create a rare and beautiful collaborative body of work. Frank Boyden, recognized by his distinctive line drawings in porcelain, and Tom Coleman, known for his skilled throwing abilities and glaze formulations, have combined their unique skills and expertise in perfect harmony.

Frank Boyden, a native of Oregon, graduated from Yale University with an MFA and BFA in Painting in 1968, and later focused on ceramics. In 1970 he co-founded the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology located on the central Oregon coast where he currently conducts workshops. His interest in ecology is apparent in the rich symbolism of his gestural animal and skeletal incisions.

Tom Coleman received his BFA from Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon in 1968, and become Head of the Ceramics Department there from 1969-1973. He then went on to teach at Portland State and the University of Nevada. From 1994-2001 he and his wife Elaine ran the Coleman Clay Studios and Gallery Inc. in Las Vegas. Currently he teaches workshops all over the US and works at his home studio to achieve the highest quality in his craft.

Their collaborative works are in many corporate and private collections, including the 1986 work Turban Heron Vessel, which belongs to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Boyden and Coleman, whose partnership efforts began in 1984, still continue their experimentation in the collaborative realm.