... a wealth of visual and written information on makers and their marks. In many cases, these makers and their marks cannot be found elsewhere."
— Ulysses Grant Dietz
Curator of Decorative Arts and Chief Curator Emeritus
Newark Museum of Art
As told by founder, Martha B. Vida
Our Story
“I was appalled by the lack of information about American artists. In the UK, I could walk into any thrift shop, pick up an item, hold it in my hand, and find out who made it. In the US, I found so many pieces at auction marked “anonymous,” or “mid-century, while the artists were still alive and working. I needed to change that.”
The Marks Project’s goal from the start was to create, develop and maintain a searchable online database that was indefinitely expandable. It fulfills its original encyclopedic purpose by gathering information on the careers, works and marks of American studio potters, ceramic artists, and artists working in clay from the mid-20th century onward. Each artist is documented by a unique webpage: TMP’s Artist Page. Each page, once established, is a living document and can be enhanced as new data, images, and marks become available.
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Our Mission
To create and maintain a searchable online database of the signatures, marks and biographical information for American mid-20th- and 21st-century studio potters, ceramic artists, and artists working in clay.
Our Vision
To provide a primary research platform to assist scholars, collectors and creators in the identification and understanding of American studio potters, ceramic artists and artists working in clay. To celebrate and document their impact on American art history and culture, by documenting their careers, their processes and their identifying marks and/or signatures.
Our Values
Innovation
TMP innovated the first accepted research platform to foster the study of American ceramic arts 1945 onward by digitally documenting its artists and their marks, signatures, back-stamps, etc. used to identify their work. Today, in the age of internet-based research, we believe that the ability to identify an artist and their marks enables inquiry and understanding of this material and its place in the history of American Art.
Scholarship
TMP encourages scholarship for museum professionals, art scholars, and collectors with their research of historical and newly discovered makers and their marks.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility
Recognize and celebrate the value of diversity.
Curiosity
Encourage makers, curators, and collectors to be curious as well as proactive.
Discovery
TMP provides an established platform where makers can be discovered, their works collected, written about and exhibited.
Teamwork
Teamwork can improve efficiency, productivity and offer a sense of belonging. TMP community members, artists and arts professionals depend on each other, share ideas openly, and work collaboratively.
2010
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2015
Martha Vida, with a small team headed by Donald Clark as Research Coordinator launched www.themarksproject.org
2018
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2020
TMP receives a Center for Craft Research Fund Grant to assist in documenting over 300 American Museum of Ceramic Art’s (AMOCA) American Ceramic Society (ACerS) Collection artists on TMP’s website.
2025
Launch of new redesigned website with enhanced search, filtering and browsing features.
Our Staff
Caralyn Caldwell
Administrative Assistant
Bio
Caralyn Caldwell
Administrative Assistant
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Donald Clark
Researcher / Quality Control
Bio
Donald Clark
Researcher / Quality Control
Donald Clark began collecting ceramics in the 1970s. He continued to build his collection based on relationships with artists during his over 30 years of experience through Ferrin Gallery and P!NCH. Clark’s current project is as the Research Manager for The Marks Project, an online searchable database, documenting the marks of makers working in America from 1946–present. He is also an integral part of the Collector Services offered by by Ferrin Contemporary.
Hanna Lange
Researcher / Documenter
Bio
Hanna Lange
Researcher / Documenter
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Donna McGee
Research Manager
Bio
Donna McGee
Research Manager
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Martha B. Vida
Founder & Executive Director
Bio
Martha B. Vida
Founder & Executive Director
Martha B. Vida is the founder and executive director of The Marks Project, Inc., and a collector of American studio ceramics. She studied fine arts, graphics, and interior design at the Parsons School of Design and the Philadelphia College of Art, and worked as a book designer and an interior designer. Growing up in a family of collectors, she became interested in studio ceramics after a trip to London where she met collector Anthony Shaw and gallerist Anita Besson, among others. In the United Kingdom, catalogues of marks, stamps, chops and/or signatures on ceramics have long been available. When Vida began collecting American studio ceramics in the early 1990s, she found identifying makers frustrating, as there were no dictionaries of marks and no cataloguing or archiving systems in place.
In 2013, Martha established The Marks Project, Inc. (TMP), and in 2015 launched it as an online dictionary of American studio ceramics, themarksproject.org. The site, which covers functional, sculptural, or conceptual work in any clay medium dating from 1946 onward, publishes marks/signatures, images of work, biographies, bibliographies, and lists of holdings in public institutions. TMP has become a research hub for museum professionals, researchers, and collectors, and serves ceramic artists as a registry for their marks and tool for documenting their oeuvre. Vida is a member of the American Craft Council, American Ceramic Circle, Connecticut Ceramics Study Circle, China Students’ Club of Boston, Pottery and Porcelain Club of Providence, and San Francisco Ceramic Circle.
Board of Directors
Martha B. Vida
President
Bio
Martha B. Vida
Founder & Executive Director
Martha B. Vida is the founder and executive director of The Marks Project, Inc., and a collector of American studio ceramics. She studied fine arts, graphics, and interior design at the Parsons School of Design and the Philadelphia College of Art, and worked as a book designer and an interior designer. Growing up in a family of collectors, she became interested in studio ceramics after a trip to London where she met collector Anthony Shaw and gallerist Anita Besson, among others. In the United Kingdom, catalogues of marks, stamps, chops and/or signatures on ceramics have long been available. When Vida began collecting American studio ceramics in the early 1990s, she found identifying makers frustrating, as there were no dictionaries of marks and no cataloguing or archiving systems in place.
In 2013, Martha established The Marks Project, Inc. (TMP), and in 2015 launched it as an online dictionary of American studio ceramics, themarksproject.org. The site, which covers functional, sculptural, or conceptual work in any clay medium dating from 1946 onward, publishes marks/signatures, images of work, biographies, bibliographies, and lists of holdings in public institutions. TMP has become a research hub for museum professionals, researchers, and collectors, and serves ceramic artists as a registry for their marks and tool for documenting their oeuvre. Vida is a member of the American Craft Council, American Ceramic Circle, Connecticut Ceramics Study Circle, China Students’ Club of Boston, Pottery and Porcelain Club of Providence, and San Francisco Ceramic Circle.
Advisory Board
Peter Beasecker
Cynthia Bringle
Donald Clark
Ulysses Grant Dietz
Jeannine Falino
Elaine Henry
Karen Herzog
Garth Johnson
Kate Lydon
Leigh Mickelson
Ben Owen
Louise Rosenfield
Joy Tahan Ruddell
Jan Schachter
Judith Schwartz
Eric Serritella
Billie Sessions
Sandy Simon
Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion (DEAI)
We, the staff and leadership of The Marks Project (TMP), are dedicated to creating paths that lead to a more inclusive, accessible and diverse organization. We must not only diversify our team, (staff, Board of Directors and Advisory Board), but also amplify the voices of Black people, Indigenous people, people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+ people, women, people with disabilities and broaden the scope of thought and perspectives within our organization and programs.
Communities across the country continue to experience inequality and lack of recognition and understanding as the nation confronts hundreds of years of sustained injustices due to systemic racism, gender inequality and disability discrimination. We aspire to center and raise up the voices of these marginalized and disenfranchised communities and represent the plurality of our society.
TMP is a critical resource … not only do I consult TMP for marks, but also for artist’s biographies, websites, and collection information. TMP continues to grow by expanding its breadth and depth, making it all the more useful and relevant—an invaluable tool for the field and beyond.”
— Adrienne Spinozzi
Associate Curator, The American Wing
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, New York
