Nora Eccles Treadwell Harrison

Called "Noni" by family and close friends, Mrs. Harrison's achievements went beyond benefaction. Her captivating personality, determined stewardship, and absolute love of ceramics helped create a world filled with visual adventures. She was friend and patron to potters throughout the West.

She was also an avid raconteur of contemporary art, spending time away from her potter's wheel to visit galleries, museums, and the artists whose works she admired. Joining Nora on her myriad travels until his death in 1972, was her husband, Walter Treadwell.

The future course of the Museum was carefully laid by Nora Eccles Harrison. With her second husband, Richard Harrison, she propelled the institution to center stage with a magnificent gift of the building and more than four hundred ceramics objects, including some of her own handywork, which represent the vessel tradition.

These objects form the nucleus of the continually expanding ceramics collection, which currently numbers over 1,200 pieces.