Studies / Accomplishments

Studies / Accomplishments:

As a ceramic sculptor and potter, I have had the opportunity to study in and travel to Japan several times over the years. My first experience in Japan was as an undergraduate student when I studied abroad on the program “The Experiment in International Living” in 1971. That was my introduction to the art and architecture of Japan and that experience has been a strong influence on my work. After completing my studies at Cornell College, I taught pottery for the Minnesota Museum of Art in St. Paul for eight years. I then was chosen in 1984 to receive a Rotary Foundation International Vocational Fellowship to study in Japan. I went to the Tekisui Museum of Art Ceramic Art Research Institute in Ashiya, Hyogo-ken.I studied there from 1984-1986. I received the second prize at the graduation exhibit.

In 1986 I returned to the United States to continue my studies at Louisiana State University for my Master of Fine Arts degree. After graduating from LSU in December of 1989, I moved back to Minnesota and started teaching at the Northern Clay Center, among other places. In 1991, the Sister City of Minneapolis, Ibaraki City, Japan selected two Minneapolis sculptors to create monuments for their newly constructed Central Municipal Library and I was commissioned to create “Stele Mississippi”. I decided to make my sculpture in Japan and worked on it in the pottery village I had studied in as a college student: Mashiko, Tochigi-ken. That year I also was commissioned by the United Hospital in St Paul to create a fountain for their new lobby.

The McKnight Foundation has provided incredible support for artists in Minnesota over the years. I have been fortunate to receive a McKnight Ceramic Artist Residency Grant in 1998 and two McKnight Artist Fellowships for Ceramic Artists in 2004 and 2008. The Residency Grant was for a period of three months and each of the Fellowship Grants was for a period of twelve months. The culmination of each award was inclusion in a group exhibition of McKnight Artist Fellows and Residency Artists at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. In 2003, I was the recipient of the Jerome Foundation / Franconia Sculpture Park Residency Fellowship (for three months) to create a sculpture at the park.

In 2001 I was selected to be an Artist in Residence at the Seto Ceramics and Glass Art Center in Seto City, Japan for three months and then was invited back to Seto for an International Ceramic Art Symposium in 2005 for several weeks.That was my latest trip to Japan. I also exhibited work in the Tekisui Museum of Art Jukisei Reunion Exhibition in November 2011.

In 2008 and in 2013, I received the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant.

My teaching credentials include being an adjunct professor at The University of St. Catherine, St. Cloud State University and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I have also taught several non-credit courses through community education and adult enrichment programs and continue to teach at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis..

My work is included in the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Minnesota History Center, the Harlow Collection at Bemidji (MN) State University and the Seto City Museum of Art in Seto City, Aichi-ken, Japan.