One Million Big Ones...

This week here at The Chautauqua School of Art we received a huge gift. Joan R. Lincoln and her husband David, gave the art school a million dollar endowment to be used to fund the The Joan R. Lincoln Ceramic Studio. See above picture...(thats Joan and her husband with the symbolic gift of a great Frank Martin teapot and in between them smiling real big is Don Kimes, the Artistic Director for the school). The endowment ensures that the ceramic program will be in place for many, many years to come. This extremely generous gift is not the first we have received from the Lincolns. They are also responsible for funding the renovations of the 100 and some odd year old building that is the ceramic studio. Joan was trained as a potter when she went to college and has had a great passion for ceramics ever since. I have gotten to know Joan some in the last couple years ...she comes to the studio and throws just about everyday still and we often have conversations about her awesome collection back in Phoenix, Arizona.

We here working through the summers, dealing with the community classes as well as the resident students, often bitch and moan about the bitching and moaning from the Chautauquan crowd. But this gift by the Lincoln's is such an example of generosity and commitment to a place and medium that it might just shut my smart ass mouth up for the rest of the summer...or for a week or so...or...maybe I will just keep that feeling in the back of my head and pull it out when I need an attitude adjustment.

On another note, I have some mugs glazed and waiting and some firing now as I type...new work soon to come...will post again soon...goodnight from a strange and special place.