Clayton Bailey

Clayton George Bailey (March 9, 1939 – June 6, 2020), was an American artist who worked primarily in the mediums of ceramic and metal sculpture.

Early life and education Clayton George Bailey was born on March 9, 1939, in Antigo, Wisconsin. In middle school he met his future wife, artist Betty Joan Graveen (Betty G. Bailey). In 1962, Bailey served as a technical assistant to Harvey Littleton, who was conducting glassblowing seminars at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Career Over the next five years, Bailey traveled the country accepting invitations to teach, from the People's Art Center in St. Louis, Missouri to positions with the University of Iowa, and the University of South Dakota. During this period Bailey received a Louis Comfort Tiffany grant (1963), and was appointed artist-in-residence at University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, where he taught ceramics for the following three years.

In 1968, Bailey began teaching at California State University, Hayward (now California State University, East Bay). He retired from this position in June 1996, with the title of Professor Emeritus of Ceramics. His church was created for the purpose of disseminating crackpot ideas (and performing the occasional marriage ceremony). which brought together many of the same practitioners including Arneson, De Forest, and Gilhooly, along with Peter Saul, Jerry Gooch, Victor Cicanski, Richard Shaw, David Zack. In 1972, Bailey co-curated the first-ever Nut art show at California State University, Hayward. along with a high degree of craftsmanship.

Another track for artistic expression developed with the creation of Bailey's alter ego Dr. George Gladstone, beginning in 1969. Initially, the works blended performance and creations based on pseudo-science and personal mythologies. Works included the creation of fossilized remains (usually ceramic or from earth materials) and the classification of a new time period, the Pre-Credulous Era, the source of such Kaolithic curiosities as a cyclops skull and a Bigfoot skeleton. Bailey was featured alongside artists Lowell Darling, Anna Banana, Ant Farm (group), Futzie Nutzle, Dr. Brute & Lady Brute, Mr. Peanut, Irene Dogmatic, AA Bronson, Captain Video, Flakey Rose Hip, Henry Humble, The Gluers and Dickens Bascom, Don and Rae Davis, and T.R. Uthco.

Bailey continued to work in a variety of mediums and styles until his death. Throughout his career as an artist, Bailey exhibited regularly throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in both solo and group exhibitions. In 2011, Bailey was honored with a 50-year retrospective exhibition (Clayton Bailey's World of Wonders) at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California.

Clayton Bailey World of Wonders Art Museum In 2013, Bailey and his wife, artist Betty G. Bailey, founded the Bailey Art Museum in Crockett, California. The Bailey Art Museum is near the Bailey's former home and studio in Port Costa. The space brings together works from across the artist's five decades plus career featuring examples of Funk art, Nut art, ceramics, and metal sculpture (including robots and space guns), as well as pseudo-scientific curiosities by the artist's alter-ego Dr. Gladstone. The museum also includes narrative watercolor drawings by Betty G. Bailey and a gift shop. thumb

In 2021, a significant collection of Clayton Bailey’s work was acquired by Curated Storefront, a nonprofit arts organization, through his daughter, Robin. Curated Storefront, known for refurbishing empty storefronts with public art installations, founded an open-access art museum dedicated to Bailey’s work in downtown Akron, Ohio, housed in the University of Akron. The museum, holding the largest collection of Bailey's work in the world, also includes an interactive exhibition and a gift shop. The exhibition site closed on August 1, 2026. A new location for the collection will be announced.

Awards and honors 1963 – American Craft Council Grant 1963 – Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant 1979 – National Endowment for the Arts Grant Recipient 1982 – National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Fellow of the Council 1984 – U.S. Patent #4440390 awarded for a "Novelty Cup for Forcibly Ejecting Liquid." 1990 – Panelist, California Arts Council, Artists Fellowship Program 1990 – National Endowment for the Arts Grant Recipient 1998 – Celestial Seasonings, Inc. "A Loose Interpretation III," Boulder, CO, Received Honorable Mention for creation of Celeste, the Robot Teabag 2009 – "Golden Bear Artist of the Year" Award and Commendation from the California Arts Council and the Lt. Governor of the State of California 2018 – National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Honorary Member

Public collections Selected Public Collections

Publications