Victor and Friends: Honoring the Legacy of Victor Babu

Belger Arts is pleased to present Victor and Friends: Honoring the Legacy of Victor Babu, an exhibition celebrating the life, work, and influence of Victor Babu, at the Belger Crane Yard Gallery from October 2, 2026, through January 2, 2027.

The exhibition will feature several works by Babu (1936 - 2019), including one of his monumental chargers, along with smaller works that demonstrate the refined forms and masterful surfaces for which he was known. A selection of works by friends and former students will be sold to support The Victor Babu Memorial Tuition Award at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Babu, affectionately known as “The Babuddah,” was admired both as an artist and as an educator. A celebrated potter and ceramicist, he produced elegant forms and decorated them with consummate skill, precision, and imagination. His academic career was equally distinguished: after his time at the University of Texas in the mid-1960s, Babu joined the faculty at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) in 1968, where he taught until his retirement in 2001. In December 2001, he received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The exhibition also highlights Babu’s influence on generations of artists. More than two dozen former students are contributing tea bowls finished with Babu’s own glazes, which have been in storage since his death in 2019. Former student and local potter Deborah Wald directed the project and donated her time and studio space to help make it possible. She and fellow KCAI alumna Molly Routhieaux Braley reconstituted the huge containers of Babu’s stunning glazes used to complete the bowls. 

The exhibition includes chargers thrown by Victor Babu, then glazed and fired with the consultation and assistance of former student and studio assistant Matt Long. Also on view will be select pieces from Babu’s personal collection, many of them created by friends, that were displayed for years in his Overland Park, Kansas home. These pieces and the aforementioned teabowls will be offered for sale to support the Victor Babu Memorial Tuition Award.

“It is nearly operatic to watch Babu place 70 pounds of porcelain on the potter’s wheel and see a mountain of kaolin transformed into an exquisite object; he is part Luciano Pavarotti, and part sumo wrestler.”

Local curator Sherry Cromwell-Lacy wrote those words 25 years ago, capturing the physicality, artistry, and spectacle of Babu’s studio practice.

A documentary by Marilyn Lysohir about the life and career of Victor Babu will be on view in the gallery throughout the run of the exhibition. 

Belger Arts has worked closely with Wald, Long, and Cary Esser, all former students of Babu, to organize the tribute and bring together the many components of the exhibition. Victor and Friends: Honoring the Legacy of Victor Babu opens Friday, October 2, 2026, at the Belger Crane Yard Gallery, 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108.