Brookfield Craft Center is pleased
to announce The Elizabeth MacDonald Fund
Established in honor of Elizabeth MacDonald’s contributions to the field of ceramics and her longstanding commitment to Brookfield Craft Center, the Elizabeth MacDonald Fund recognizes MacDonald’s artistic impact and aims to continue the legacy of her work. The Fund will support the launch of a ceramics handbuilding program designed for long-term sustainability within Brookfield Craft Center’s ceramics studio. Its ultimate goal is to provide scholarships that enable students to study under an exceptional artist whose work and teaching are widely recognized within the discipline.
Brookfield Craft Center’s ceramics program centers on introductory and all-levels pottery, and we are actively expanding to offer more opportunities for artistic growth. With the recent addition of specialized classes such as Raku and Nerikomi, we are building a more dynamic and advanced program for our community. The implementation of the handbuilding program will build on this progress by offering a new area of focus and development for ceramicists.
The Elizabeth MacDonald Fund connects artistic excellence with education and opportunity, ensuring Elizabeth’s impact continues to grow through future generations of Brookfield Craft Center ceramicists.
Support the Elizabeth MacDonald Fund
We invite you to support the Elizabeth MacDonald Fund with a contribution in any denomination.
On the occasion of her exhibition “A Touch of Color” (May 16-July 19, 2026) in the Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery at Brookfield Craft Center, a portion of exhibition sales will be contributed to the Elizabeth MacDonald Fund.
DONATE NOW
Other Ways to Give
Please make checks payable to Brookfield Craft Center with the Elizabeth MacDonald Fund notated on the memo line. Mail to:
Brookfield Craft Center
Re: Elizabeth MacDonald Fund
186 Whisconier Road
Brookfield, Connecticut 06804
Thank you for your support!
The Elizabeth MacDonald Fund is a tax-exempt fund through
Brookfield Craft Center, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Elizabeth MacDonald lives in Bridgewater, Connecticut, and has pursued an artistic journey spanning more than five decades. Her work is rooted in a solitary childhood in the landscapes of Western Massachusetts and later enriched by formal theater training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. After working in professional theater in New York and Seattle, she gradually shifted toward the visual arts, studying painting before discovering clay at Greenwich House Pottery. This transition became a defining turning point, allowing her to merge her theatrical sensibilities—narrative, space, and structure—with the tactile and expressive possibilities of ceramics. Influenced by leading figures in the craft movement and supported by grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, MacDonald developed a distinctive practice that blended hand built and thrown forms, experimental firing techniques, and an evolving interest in surface, color, and modular tile construction. Her work often reflects themes of memory, landscape, and the interplay between intimacy and vastness.
MacDonald’s exhibition history reflects both breadth and recognition within the contemporary craft and ceramics world. She has presented numerous solo exhibitions across the United States, including in New York, Connecticut, Arizona, and New Mexico, while also participating in major group exhibitions at institutions such as the DeCordova Museum, the Hudson River Museum, and international venues in France, Yugoslavia, Japan, and Taiwan. Her work has been featured in prominent publications including The New York Times, Ceramics Monthly, and American Craft. Over time, she expanded into large-scale public and commissioned works, including architectural ceramic installations and murals in locations such as Hong Kong, Washington, D.C., Hartford, and Chicago. Her achievements were recognized with multiple awards, notably the Connecticut Governor’s Award for Visual Arts in 1999, and her work is held in numerous public and corporate collections, underscoring her lasting impact on the field of ceramic art.
