Hundreds of vases, cups, jugs and pots, from rural earthenware to exotic sculptures, will serve as a teaching collection at the ECU School of Art. The ceramics are a gift from Dwight M. Holland, an avid collector who in more than 50 years has assembled nearly 1,500 ceramic works. He has bequeathed the entire collection to ECU.

 "I've known ECU, I've watched it grow up. I knew that ECU had the best pottery program in the state," he said.

Holland earned distinction for creating habitats for the North Carolina Zoo, where he was curator of design. A sculptor, he taught art for many years in the Asheboro City Schools. He helped bring art and design curriculums to the state's community colleges and chaired the design department at Randolph Community College. He lives in Asheboro and is a habitat consultant to zoos and museums across the nation.

This commitment to teaching inspired him to bequeath his immense collection. It includes early Jugtown Pottery selections along with modern ones. The vessels are functional and whimsical, simple and ornate, classic and experimental.

He approached the university with an idea of keeping the artworks outside museum walls.

"I told them I would give them the collection if it could be stored in the ceramics department, and if students could have access to the collection and could handle them," he said. "It's important to be able to pick them up and touch them."

Having those ceramics close by will bring rare learning opportunities for art students.

"We're very fortunate to have his collection," said Art Haney, associate director of the ECU School of Art and Design. "Most collections are 'Do not touch.' This collection says 'Please touch.'"

Students who wish to study a particular style or vessel may request to borrow it and take it to their studio, to examine its glazes and the techniques used to make it. "It's really hands-on," Haney said.

So far, about 180 vessels have arrived at ECU, with more contracted for the future. After his passing, Holland's entire collection will belong to ECU. In addition to the ceramics, his gift includes transcript interviews and audiotapes of 13 Seagrove  potters, of whom only one is still living.

 "I have pots from around the world. To be able to hold in their hands pottery of the best potters of the past 50 years or longer, students can feel where they turned it, how they made handles, how they handled glazes," Holland said. "It's a unique learning experience that can't be found any other way. I thought it was important."