The Cowan Pottery Symposium
Each year, on a Saturday in Spring, the Cowan Pottery Symposium is held at the Rocky River Public Library. The Symposium is now organized and financed by Cowan Pottery Museum Associates with operational support from Rocky River Public Library staff.
Symposium sessions are open to all and there is no charge for admission. The Symposium program is intended for all who are interested in Cowan Pottery, its connections with the Cleveland School art movement, later work of Cowan artists, local history, art pottery and antiques collecting, or the arts in general.
This all-day Symposium program includes presentations by noted experts in decorative arts, art history and the role of R. Guy Cowan’s venture in the contemporary Cleveland environment. Other activities at the Symposium include news from collectors on new discoveries, acquisitions and restoration projects, and the Annual R. Guy Cowan Scholarship presentation.
The weekend of the Symposium also includes a post-event dinner gathering and is also a time for CPMA to present fundraising events such as sale or auctions of Cowan pottery items and to conduct its Annual Meeting.
2026 Symposium
The 34th Symposium will take place at Rocky River Public Library on Saturday May 2nd.
This year’s varied program will include insights into one of R. Guy Cowan’s early venture in production of a decorated tile fireplace surround, a visual tour through the slip-casting and pressed molding processes used at different stages in Cowan Pottery’s history and a ceramic artist’s contemporary tribute to Cowan Pottery design.