CLAYHEAD

This podcast features Laura Norwitz. Laura is Director of Education at South Street Seaport Museum NYC. We believe the The Minton tiles were unloaded on one of the Peck Slip piers when they arrived in batches between 1865 - 1867. Miller & Coates were the appointed import company & were based in the area at 279 Pearl Street. Laura paints a vivid picture of life in this important & bustling waterfront neighbourhood 150 years ago. She also offers background to the preservation of this fascinating & important historic district & introduces us to the fabulous South Street Seaport Museum.

This podcast features Richard Pieper. Pieper is an Architectural Conservator at Columbia University specialising in the documentation of historic architectural technology & the conservation of metals & masonry materials. He is a Partner & Director of Preservation for Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, a preservation architecture firm in New York City. In this conversation; Richard & Matt Reiley, Associate Director of Conservation, Central Park Conservancy discuss the last remaining cast iron 'backer plate' which formed a crucial part of the stunning historical metal work that held up each of the Minton Tile Ceiling panels. As you will hear; these are phenomenal engineering solutions & without them the epic tile ceiling simply wouldn't exist. Richard & Matt discuss its importance, its technical excellence & its importance in relation to the development of the city's wider metal work history which, in turn, is of international significance ie buildings, transit systems & other major parts of the NYC's gargantuan infrastructure.

This podcast features Cynthia Brenwall, Conservator with NYC Municipal Archives. Cynthia has been cataloging & digitising the Central Park collection. She has also been focussed on conserving 130 rediscovered original drawings including Jacob Wrey Mould's water colour designs for the Minton Tile Ceiling & 'lost' floor. She has recently published a wonderful book about the drawings called 'The Central Park; Original Designs for New York's Greatest Treasure'.

Jess Thompson is a classically trained singer (soprano). Jess is a regular at Bethesda Arcade. She talks passionately about her love of the space; its acoustics, its contemporary community of performers & the Minton Tile Ceiling.

This podcast introduces project partner Matt Reiley. Matt explains a bit about his background; including his artistic & conservation practice & his strong connections with Bethesda Terrace, Arcade & Minton Tile Ceiling. He talks about Bethesda Terrace as the ‘heart of the park’; a phrase first used by Central Park designers Olmstead & Vaux nearly 150 years ago & reinforced by Central Park Conservancy’s Sara Cedar Miller, Historian emerita since 2017 & author of the definitive ‘Central Park, An American Masterpiece’. Conversations between Matt & myself will feature in future podcasts.

This podcast dives in to with a conversation with two superb street artists Thoth & Leila who use a powerful mix of voice, song, dance & ritual in their performance under the tiles at Bethesda Terrace Arcade. Thoth describes himself as the Arcade ‘elder’; he’s been performing in this space for more than 20 years. The interview was recorded on Saturday 24.9.19 during the first Our Beth pop up event at Bethesda Terrace Arcade & under the Minton Tile Ceiling. Leila describes the space as ‘home’. Their work is fundamentally inspired & influenced by the Arcade & Ceiling. Thoth explains passionately how the “the tiles are part of the work”. Last but not least; Thoth & Leila met & fell in love under Our Beth!

Bethesda Terrace was designed as the formal centrepiece of Central Park, New York City. It’s affectionately known as ‘the heart of the park’. The majestic Arcade is famed for its unique Minton Tile Ceiling created with nearly 16,000 encaustic tiles made in The Potteries (Stoke-on-Trent, England) over 150 years ago.

Less well known is the ‘lost floor’ also commissioned from Minton & installed at the same time in the mid 1860s; but sadly replaced by 1911 after suffering from serious water damage & subsidence. Its intricate & distinctive pattern was formed using an estimated 45,000 bespoke encaustic & (smaller) geometric tiles.

A small consignment of the original ceiling & floor tiles will make a unique return journey from Manhattan - via Liverpool - to their ‘birthplace’ in Stoke-on-Trent as part of a transatlantic cultural (re)connection project led by

Danny Callaghan (UK) & Matt Reiley (USA).

The two artists will undertake a month-long odyssey - guided by the original transit route - which aims to celebrate the historic commission & promote a contemporary conversation about the wider cultural significance & value of this magnificent ceramic masterpiece.