Gene Tokheim throws all of the jugs. Gene has done collaborative work with visual artists throughout his career as a studio potter, beginning with Franz Richter's influential design ideas, and Karen Jenson's experiments with rosemaling on porcelain bowls. Lucy Tokheim joined the work as a life partner to Gene in both marriage and ceramics, developing as designer/decorator of Tokheim Stoneware. All of them were inspired by Norwegian folk art, and were studying the wood, textiles, painting and architecture of Scandinavia, applying them in both traditional and contemporary designs.

Gene developed the concept of the Jug Show in the year 2000. Fred Cogelow expressed interest in doing some sculptural work in clay. Fred is a spectacularly skilled wood carver and fine artist and immediately 'caught on' to clay sculpture, while grumbling about clay's pliancy and passive qualities. Gene became interested in how different visual artists would respond to the formal challenge of a simple jug form, and soon invited artists Malena Handeen and Doug Peterson to join the group taking turns in the clay studio.

The invited artists visit our studio individually to create their designs, after which the jugs are signed and dated by both collaborative artist and potter. There is a short period of time when the greenware pot can be altered, so there is a spontaneous element to much of the work. The Artist Biographies reveal fine talents, many years of experience, exhibits, shows and awards, and the occasional outburst of eccentric, original humor in this rare collaboration of regional artists.

The jug has a long history of decorative treatments. Medieval German folk pottery had a large vocabulary of applied clay designs, British faces appeared on Toby jugs, African American and Appalachian Jugtown potters further developed distinctive and playful caricatures and the spare and lovely calligraphy of early American pottery. The jug is essentially folk art, a humble utilitarian form representing a regional vision. It has no pretensions of being called a 'vessel', one of the ways contemporary potters rename work to free it from mundane function.

The show was exhibited at the Tokheim Stoneware gallery and at www.tokheim-stoneware.com beginning in 2003. The pieces were sold through an auction process, ending on November 13, 2004.

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