Brookfield Craft Center Presents A Touch of Color Featuring the Work of Renowned Ceramicist Elizabeth MacDonald.
A Touch of Color is on display in Brookfield Craft Center’s Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery through July 19, 2026. There are two upcoming receptions where Elizabeth MacDonald will be present to talk about her work. The first is Friday, June 26th from 3-6 PM. The second is a closing reception on Sunday July 19th from 1-4 PM.
Elizabeth MacDonald’s artistic journey spans more than five decades. Her career began in theater with training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London followed by work in professional theater in New York and Seattle. In the early ’70s, her interests shifted to visual arts, and she began taking classes in painting before discovering clay at Greenwich House Pottery.
Influenced by leading figures in the craft movement and supported by grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, MacDonald refined her methods. She developed a distinctive practice that blends handbuilt with thrown form, experimental firing techniques, and an interest in surface, color, and modular tile construction.
Brookfield Craft Center has played a significant role in Elizabeth MacDonald’s artistic career since her time as a student in the 1970s. She first took classes here and the became both an instructor and member of the Board of Directors, serving throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Over the decades, MacDonald’s work has been featured at BCC in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Most recently, she rejoined the Board of Directors. In recognition of her longstanding dedication to Brookfield Craft Center and her significant contributions to the field of ceramics, BCC established the Elizabeth MacDonald Fund in her honor in 2026.
Over the past two decades, MacDonald has developed a body of work in white ceramic and porcelain presented on white surfaces. A Touch of Color showcases the varying shades of white with hints of color added through choices of glaze and paints. The exhibition also features MacDonald’s paintings, both on canvas and on ceramic tile, offering a broader view of her artistic practice. A portion of the exhibition’s sales will support the Elizabeth MacDonald Fund.