Join us for an illuminating talk that delves into the rich clay industry of West Auckland and the captivating history of Crown Lynn, once the largest ceramics manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere. Explore how a family business, shifting economics, and cultural shifts in Aotearoa shaped forty years of Crown Lynn's legacy, and discover why this deep ceramics history of Tāmaki Makaurau is especially poignant as pottery and clay-making experiences a contemporary resurgence. 

Louise Stevenson, a former ceramics designer and decorator at Morris and James Ltd and The Garden Party, has had a long arts career spanning over a decade as a lecturer at Manukau School of Visual Arts and holds a Master’s degree from Elam School of Fine Arts. She founded Artspark, a community organisation, to foster local creativity in West Auckland and now serves as the director of Te Toi Uku, Crown Lynn, and Clayworks Museum in New Lynn.