Ron Meyers
Athens, GA
Biography
Ron Meyers holds a 1967 M.F.A. degree in ceramics from the School for American Craftsmen, Rochester Institute of Technology, and B.S. (1956) and M.S. (1961) degrees in art education from State University of New York College at Buffalo. He taught at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC from 1967-1972. He then spent the next 20 years teaching at the University of Georgia in Athens where he retired as Professor Emeritus.
Ron has an extensive history of professional activities within the ceramics community. He has presented numerous workshops and demonstrations in the United States and abroad, most recently at the Lill Street Studio in Chicago, Il, Arrowmont School of Crafts, the Huntington Museum of Art, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the Curaumilla Clay Studio in Chile.
He was the recipient of the National Council for the Education of Ceramic Arts Excellence in Teaching Award and the Northern Clay Center’s 2008 Regis Masters Award which honors senior artists who have had a major impact on the development of 20th and 21st ceramics in the United States.
Artist Statement
Working in clay and making functional pottery has never been a problem for me. I have never felt the need to dismiss or disregard the concept of function because it was something less than art. I have never found making useful pieces confining or restrictive. In fact, I find that the opposite seems true. The longer I stay involved, the more alternatives and possibilities there are that seem to present themselves. Along with the functional aspects of the piece, I strive to have the end product reflect my own sensitivity and awareness to the material itself and its traditions. The pieces that I’m most pleased with are those that come closest to best integrating the form and surface, the spontaneity and fluidity of the clay along with the object’s use.
