Linda Christianson
The pots we use in our home are like stage sets. At rest on a table, dish drainer, or in a cupboard, they are visually engaging. Through use they provide access to other activities: gathering food from the garden, cooking, conversation, dining, arrangement of flowers, sorting of papers. This daily relationship with the pots offers up both utility and continual visual inquiry. Like a stage set, the pot has an ability to disappear and then reappear.
Linda Christianson is a well-known and respected Minnesota studio potter and pottery instructor. She received her BA in Studio Art from Hamine University in St. Paul where she also participated in their Graduate Apprentice program. She pursued further practical experience through a Ceramic Studio Workshop program at the Banff Centre School for Fine Arts. Her work has been widely exhibited across the country and around the world. Linda has also taught in many centers for ceramic arts and her reputation as an educator puts her much in demand for her workshops in functional pottery, surface decoration, and wood-firing techniques.
Selected Exhibitions:
2008
“Linda Christianson and Michael Connelly: New Work”, Akar, Iowa City, Iowa
“American Studio Ceramics”, Ball State University Museum of Art, Muncie, Indiana
“Masks: Old and New”, Edwardsville Art Center, Edwardsville, Illinois
“Yunomi Invitational”, Akar, Iowa City, Iowa
“A Letter from Warren”, 18 Hands Gallery, Houston, Texas
“PotPOURri: Pots that POUR”, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York
“Women with Wood”, Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
“ Minnesota Women Potters”, The Grand Hand, St. Paul, Minnesota
“La Mesa”, Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
“Women’s Voices: Different Approaches to Atmospheric Kilns”, Roswell Art Center, Roswell, Georgia
“Table of Elements”, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
“Summer Workshop Faculty 2008”, Appalachian Center for Craft, Smithville, Tennessee
“Teapots”, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmore, North Carolina
“Sip, Slurp, Gulp”, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, New Mexico
“It’s Pouring”, Dow Studio, Deer Isle, Maine
2007
“Linda Christianson”, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, Montana
“Linda Christianson”, Red Star Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri
“Simple Cups” Kobo Gallery, Seattle, Washington
“Longevity: 12 Careers in Ceramics”, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Fort Wayne, Indiana
“90* Teapots”, Xen Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
“Warren MacKenzie and Midwest Potters”, Gallery Gen, New York, New York
“Hand Held Drinking Vessels”, Main Street Art Gallery, Edwardsville, Illinois
“For the Table”, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, New Mexido
“Intimate Vessels: Cups, Tumblers, and Teabowls”, Jenison-Meacham Art Center, Belmond, Iowa
“Cups”, Dowstudio, Deer Isle, Maine
“Tea” Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, New Mexico
“Yunomi Invitational”, Akar, Iowa City, Iowa
“Cups Coming Together: Clay Art Center Celebrates 50 Years”, Clay Art Center,
Port Chester, New York
“In Matters of Earth and Fire”, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Clermont, KY
“Made in Clay”, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, New York
“Woodfire Invitational”, The Clay Place, Carnegie, Pennsylvania
“The Circle of Eight and Their Influential Artists”, Mad about Art, Louisville, Kentucky
Recent Teaching Positions/Residencies:
2008 Instructor, Appalachian Center for Craft
2005 Instructor, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts
2003 Dayton-Hudson Distinguished Visiting Teacher/Artist, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
2002 Koopman Distinguished Chair in Ceramics, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut;
Dayton-Hudson Distinguished Visiting Teacher/Artist, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota;
Instructor, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina
2001 Dayton-Hudson Distinguished Visiting Teacher/Artist, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota;
Instructor, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Recent Periodicals & Reviews:
Linda Christianson, “Hunting for Surface”, The Log Book, Issue 33, 2008, pp. 3-13
Peter Klopfenstein, “Making Clay While the Sun Shines”, The Daily Iowan, February 29, 2008, page 6B
Linda Christianson, “The Practice of Reading”, The Studio Potter, V 35, N2, Summer/Fall, 2007, pages 64-69
“International Clay”, Midwest Home, May, 2006, page 28
“Living Dishes: A New Generation of Functional Pots”, Clay Times, Volume 12, Number 2, March/April, 2006, pages 7, 30-31
Poellot, Jennifer,“The Naked Truth: 2004 International Wood-Fire Conference”, Ceramics Monthly, January, 2005, page 51
