Maggie Towne's Bio
133 N Birchwood Ave
Louisville, KY 40206
502 494 2807
[Resumé]
At
a young age I was making mud pies and clay penguins and was encouraged by
my mother (a painter and writer) the whole time. I took a pottery class
the summer after high school for fun and subsequently graduated with my
BFA in ceramics from Brooks Institute of Fine Arts in Santa Barbara in 1973.
For 13 years I wandered the western world doing other things (but always doing clay) and then decided to take my art making seriously by attending the University of Georgia for my MFA in ceramics, which I received in 1989. Sometime in graduate school I started working with the female figure in a sculptural manner.
I was a resident artist and teacher at Baltimore Clayworks for four years before I moved to Pittsburgh.
Ten years ago I moved to Louisville, KY. The first few years I belonged to a new ceramic cooperative and gallery, which for me was a much-needed supportive environment. Several years previously I had been teaching at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, a nonprofit arts' organization focused on urban high school students in Pittsburgh, PA. Unfortunately, I never really found a clay community there.
I am now happily teaching art and ceramics at Kentucky Country Day School, a private K-12 school in Louisville. It's a wonderful job. Six years ago I purchased a potter's house in Crescent Hill complete with gas car kiln and studio!
Early in 2005 I received a grant to go to Mexico to study with potters in Oaxaca and Michoacan from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. It was an amazing experience that I continue to draw from.
The newest work is reflecting a desire to simplify the figure combined with the vessel form. My trip to Mexico and some time at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine two summers ago led me back to red clay and majolica. I plan to continue to have fun with the form and the colors!
