Julia Carter Preston

To celebrate the centenary of the popular Liverpool artist Julia Carter Preston (1926- 2012), five Liverpool venues (The Bluecoat, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool Hope University, The Walker Art Gallery, and Victoria Gallery and Musuem) are staging exhibitions on her life and work, which is explored in an accompanying symposium.Julia Carter Preston had a studio overlooking the Bluecoat garden for many years.

This archive display charts her long association with the arts centre, which her father Edward Carter Preston was involved in founding.

It comprises photographs, documents and plaques commissioned to mark anniversaries of the Bluecoat Society of Arts.Known for her distinctive ceramics, Julia was recognised for reviving the technique of sgraffito in the twentieth century.

This involves scratching through a coating of clay slip on a surface to reveal an underlying layer, creating contrasting decoration.