248: In Tribute: Warren Mackenzie on a lifetime in clay
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a rebroadcast of a 2015 interview with an icon of the American studio pottery movement, Warren Mackenzie. After an early apprenticeship at the Leach Pottery in St. Ives, Cornwall (1949-1952), Mackenzie became a ceramic professor at the University of Minnesota (1953-1990). During his nearly four-decade tenure at the school, he influenced generations of students including Michael Simon, Randy Johnston, Sandy Simon, Mark Pharis and many more. In the interview we talk about his time at the Leach Pottery, pricing for domestic wares, and his thoughts on what makes a good pot. Warren passed peacefully in his Stillwater, MN home on December 31st, 2018.
I want to send a special thank you to the Studio Potter Journal for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Since 1972, the Studio Potter non-profit organization has promoted the discussion of technology, criticism, aesthetics, and history within the ceramic’s community, through their semi-annual print and online journal. Many guests of this podcast have written for the journal and you can find those articles along with more information and more information about how to subscribe at www.studiopotter.org.