Our ceramics studio was established in 1972 with the idea of exploring the intersection between traditional pottery and modern art.
Today, people engaging in contemporary ceramics are rarely if ever anonymous folk artists; rather they are likely to be well educated, with a focused vision, striving to reveal their own artistic sensibilities. This is very different than historical ceramic production, in which objects were often determined by the expectations and obligations of particular traditions.
Inviting someone to use a handmade ceramic piece is to open the possibility for a conversation, an exchange of ideas, or a shared experience with that person. Pots for everyday use have always had the potential to have a powerful autonomous presence and artistic meaning.
Jan McKeachie Johnston Biography
Jan McKeachie Johnston studied at the University of Minnesota, Southern Illinois University, and received her BFA degree from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls. Since 1979 Jan has been active in teaching workshops across the United States and Chile, serving as a visiting lecturer at UWRF, and working in her Wisconsin studio. For the past 40 years she has participated in important national and international exhibitions, including American Shino at Babcock Galleries, New York, NY in 2001; the Moegi Gallery’s 18 American Potters exhibit, Japan in 1997; Sculptural Utility, a solo exhibition at Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA in 2004; and A Touch of Humanity, Schaller Gallery in 2018. She has been a guest artist in St. Louis, MO, Kansas City, MO, St. Paul, MN and Santiago, Chile. Her work has also been featured in Clay Times and Ceramics Monthly, and she is represented in many private and public collections, including The Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA; Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota; and Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia). She is represented by Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN; Schaller Gallery, St. Joseph, MI; Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA; and Grand Hand Gallery, Minneapolis, MN.
Randy Johnston Biography
Randy Johnston has had an illustrious 47-year career in ceramics. He is recognized internationally as an artist who has pursued functional expression and brought a fresh aesthetic vision to contemporary form, and for his many contributions to the development of wood kiln technology in the United States. He is professor and department chair emeritus at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, where he taught ceramics and drawing. His work has been exhibited internationally and he is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Bush Artist Fellowship, granted by The Bush Foundation in Minnesota, two visual artist fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Distinguished Teaching Award in American Arts, from The James Renwick Society of the Smithsonian. Johnston received his MFA from Southern Illinois University and a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Warren MacKenzie. He also studied in Japan at the Pottery of Shimaoka Tatsuzo, who was a student of Shoji Hamada. Johnston has presented hundreds of lectures and guest artist presentation worldwide. He has work in the permanent collections of, Victoria and Albert, London, UK; Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), Minneapolis, MN; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO and numerous international, public and private collections.