Blog

Vivika and Otto Heino are one of several collaborative husband and wife teams that made a significant impact on American ceramics in the twentieth century. Vivika had extensive academic training in the medium; she studied at the California School of Fine Art in San Francisco, at the University of Southern California under master ceramist Glen Lukens, and at Alfred University, where in 1944 she was the second student to ever receive the Master of Fine Arts from the New York State College of Ceramics. Otto approached ceramics through a less academically rigorous path. After serving in the military during World War II, Otto returned to the United States and used his GI Bill funding to take classes at the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts in Concord. Read More

Myrton Purkiss moved from Canada to the United States at age twelve, and eventually attended the University of Southern California to study under master ceramist Glen Lukens, who influenced generations of ceramic students with his groundbreaking experimentation in materials and techniques. Purkiss completed his formal education at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles before being drafted into military service, where he used his design skills working as a cartographer, building scale models of the European landscape. He took advantage of this time abroad, studying ceramics and decorative arts across England and France. Read More

In the late summer of 1971, the Everson Museum of Art erected a life-size elephant-shaped playground slide on the grounds just east of the Museum. Designed by Irwin Sirota, founder of the Punch and Judy Theater/Studio in Syracuse, and artist Ivan Powell, the sixteen-foot structure was built as part of an initiative instituted by then-Museum director Jim Harithas to make the Everson a more accessible place for the community. Harithas also intended the slide to address the need for creative recreation facilities for the children of Syracuse. Read More

Over the course of her thirty-year career, Ellamarie Woolley created innovative work that significantly advanced the field of enamel arts. Woolley, along with her husband Jackson, first encountered the art of enameling through a demonstration at Scripps College in Claremont, California in 1947. Fascinated by the process, the couple began working collaboratively, beginning with bowls, plates, ashtrays, and boxes. In the 1950s, they started making largescale enameled murals which were often installed on public buildings throughout California. The couple’s creative interests diverged in the mid-1960s, and Ellamarie began constructing hard-edge, abstract wall pieces. Read More