Through 3,000 years of artistic development, American Indian pottery has grown from a utilitarian craft into a fine art admired around the world. Major institutions from the Heard Museum in Phoenix to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., have amassed valuable collections of both old and new pottery. It can be argued that perhaps the finest American Indian pottery ever is being created in our present era, by potters displaying a mastery of both traditional and contemporary techniques, materials and designs.