Edgewood artist Jim McDowell, who has exhibited in galleries in London, Los Angeles and Chicago, will sell some of his work Saturday to benefit those in need through Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill.

Among the items for sale will be designs based on an enduring art form that grew out of the degradations of slavery.

In many places, slaves were not allowed to have tombstones. Sometimes, pottery was used for grave markers.

"An ugly face jug scared the devil away from your grave so your soul could go to heaven," said Mr. McDowell, 62.

Ugly faces are something of a tradition in Mr. McDowell's family.

"My great-great-great-great Aunt Evangeline was a village slave potter in Jamaica," he said. "She made face jugs, too.

"The story handed down from Evangeline was that slaves placed personal items on their loved ones' graves, along with face jugs. African slaves were taken to the Caribbean to be acclimated, and there they picked up the religion of voodoo.

"My faces are reflective. If he is smoking a cigar, it is as if he is telling the master a bad word.

"The words to the left are antislavery and the words to the right tell you how I am feeling that day."

His wife, Jan Fisher, refers to the work as Outsider Art.

"Jim makes lots of beautiful functional pottery, but his face jugs are his art and have become collectors' items," she said.

"I think the most important thing about Jim's face jugs is that each is one of a kind. And while the genre of face jugs is not unique, the word 'unique' is absolutely true of Jim's particular style.

"As far as we've researched, heard and seen, no other black potter makes this kind of art, particularly stemming from family ancestry," she said.

Mr. McDowell's current project is a Frederick Douglass face jug. Mr. Douglass was born a slave in 1818 and became a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement in the mid-19th century.

Mr. McDowell and his wife belong to Sixth Presbyterian Church, which is in Squirrel Hills and assists the needy with its Deacons Lazarus Fund. But considering the tough economic times, the Edgewood couple was concerned that the fund would be drawn down.

"Money's not an issue with God. It's how we spend it," Mr. McDowell said.

So he decided to sell some of his pottery to enhance the fund. He will do that from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the church at 1688 Murray Ave., near the intersection with Forbes Avenue.

There will be lots of functional pieces -- pots, bowls, vases, goblets and, perhaps, a few face jugs.

Mr. McDowell will donate 40 percent of the proceeds to the Deacons Lazarus Fund.

"Jim has a loving, giving heart," his wife said. "I was not surprised when he came up with this idea to donate to [the fund] in this way."

Mr. McDowell's work has been exhibited in galleries in London, Los Angeles, Chicago and other venues, including the Sewickley Center for the Arts. He recently was one of 10 artists awarded a Heinz Endowment/Youth Places grant through the Andy Warhol Museum on the North Side.

"He was picked based upon his aesthetic abilities and his talent in connecting with young people with troubled backgrounds," said Tom Sokolowski, director of the Warhol.

"He is a master potter from the Aftro-Caribbean tradition. These are kids in challenged neighborhoods with legal problems. By utilizing the artform itself, these kids will learn skills that will help them in the workplace."

For more information, call the church at 412-421-2752 or go to www.blackpotter.com or www.sixthchurch.org/history