Mary Alice Hadley

Mary Alice Hadley ( Hadley; October 5, 1911 – December 26, 1965) was an American artist from Terre Haute, Indiana, known for her earthenware pottery pieces with hand-painted images of farm and coastal life, which were sold by Hadley Pottery.

Early life and education Mary Alice Hadley's parents were Frank R. and Hattie Alice Hale. Her father founded the Vigo American Clay Company which made construction tile, and was once one of the largest building tile producers in America.

Career Hadley's artistic career began in painting, both oils and watercolors, which she showed in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles. She won prizes for her paintings at the Arts Club in 1949 and 1950. so she designed her own. She purchased unglazed greenware from Louisville Pottery Co. (now known as Louisville Stoneware), then freehand painted nautical designs directly onto the pieces. By the summer of 1940 word of her pottery reached as far as New York City and New England, and orders began rolling in. sold it in a gift shop,

Hadley also designed paper plates and napkins for the Deco Paper Products company, which she started with Clifford C. Vatter Jr.

Personal life and death Mary Alice married George E. Hadley, a mechanical engineer, on November 15, 1930.

She died on December 26, 1965, at age 54. In 1989, George Hadley donated 500 pieces to the Speed Art Museum, and her pieces remain in their permanent collection. In 1984, George Hadley gave land in Terre Haute, Indiana to the Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology, which they sold to fund what became known as Hadley Hall. He also gave the institute 499 pieces created by Mary Alice Hadley before her death.

Awards and honors In 1947 Hadley was offered to present an exhibit of her work at New York City's America House by the American Craftsmen's Education Council. her winning design, "Brown Dot" (or "Hot Brown Fleck"), was exhibited in New York and Chicago.