Putnam County Pottery Exhibit
The Putnam County Museum boasts an impressive collection of local pottery. The collection consists of various functional and sculptural ceramic works by Richard and Marj Peeler, Richard Burkett, David Berg, Scott Cooper, David Herrold, Nancy Lovett, Lance Myers, Rita Nichols, and Charles Todd Wagoner.
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We are deeply thankful to the artists and all Putnam residents who donated their pottery pieces to the Museum’s collection.
Putnam County Potters
Peeler Pottery
Richard and Marj Peeler fired a kiln for 28 years in their unique ceramics studio in the middle of rural Indiana. They produced a quarter million pieces of pottery from the mid 1970s through the early 1990s, while raising their four sons. People from every state in the country and from 51 different countries had visited their studio in Putnam County, where they made 10,000 pottery pieces a year. In addition to utilitarian pottery, the Peelers also made one-of-a-kind sculptural pieces. Their work was a skillful expression of creativity and imagination that appealed to people from all walks of life. Although popular and successful in selling their pottery pieces, the Peelers didn't treat pottery as a commercial enterprise, but rather as a work of art.
Richard taught ceramics, sculpture, crafts, and photography at DePauw University for 14 years. The University’s new art center, Richard E. Peeler Art Center, is named after him, as a tribute to the talented and inspiring teacher.
Throughout the years, Richard and Marj wrote numerous educational articles for ceramic art magazines, including Pottery Making Illustrated and Ceramics Monthly, as well as made instructional ceramic art films. Richard was a founding member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) and served as the Council’s president from 1969 to 1970.
In 2007, Marj curated an exhibit of Peeler pottery at the Putnam County Museum. Two thousand pottery pieces were collected for the exhibit. Dr. Warren Macy, the Museum’s president at the time, organized three “Peeler Pottery Parties,” inviting private collectors to bring their Peeler pieces to showcase and have them photographed. The public’s interest and enthusiasm about Peeler pottery led to a publication of Peeler Pottery: A Retrospective, a 342-page book containing 756 color photos of the Peelers’ work, with an inspiring personal introduction by Marj. In her essay, Marj describes challenges and rewards along with techniques and knowledge she and her late husband developed as they worked in their studio. It is an engaging story, with bits of history and advice for any aspiring artist, and the colorful photographs bring the artwork and the studio to life.
Richard Burkett
Richard Burkett has created pottery for 35 years. His career began in 1970 with a summer job, throwing ashtrays on the potter’s wheel for the renowned ceramicist, Richard Peeler. In 1973 Burkett established Wild Rose Pottery on a farm near Bainbridge. Within the next decade, Burkett returned to school, completing advanced degrees from Indiana University in ceramics and photography. He continued his career teaching first at the University of Wisconsin and then at his current position as Professor of Art at San Diego State University. Burkett continues to create a wide range of functional and mixed-media ceramics at the Third Pottery in San Diego. He works at the studio with another Indiana potter Nan Coffin.
Throughout his career, Burkett’s ceramic and photography artwork has been exhibited in solo and group shows all over the country and worldwide. He has been a guest lecturer at the world’s leading ceramic art conventions and workshops. Burkett has received a number of awards and grants for his research in art and creativity. He is a member of NCECA and the American Craft Council.
David T. Berg
Most of David Berg’s work is functional pottery, and no two items in his collection are the same. Berg began his ceramics education by taking classes at the Interlochen Arts Camp and continued through high school, under influence from local area potters Richard and Marj Peeler and Richard Burkett. He continued his ceramics education under the guidance of Karl Martz and other accomplished pottery instructors at Indiana University. He worked as a staff potter at the Bloomington Pottery Company for two years after graduating from IU with a degree in microbiology. Since 1982 Berg has worked as a molecular biologist, and had not done any ceramics work until 2004, when his daughter enrolled in a ceramics class and encouraged her father to return to his hobby. Since then Berg has been throwing clay in his Berg Stoneware Pottery studio. His functional and art pottery pieces are on display in a number of galleries throughout Indiana.
Scott Cooper
Scott Cooper has been potting since 1992. He first moved to Greencastle in 1998 and established his own studio. In 2005 Cooper relocated his studio and show room to his current location in Fillmore. Cooper, who sells his works under the title of St. Earth Pottery, produces each creation under his working philosophy: an endeavor of achieving both function and artistic quality in his work. Cooper continues his ceramics career today by creating useful and beautiful works and by sharing his philosophy of art with others.
David Herrold
David Herrold has enjoyed a long career in arts, dealing primarily with ceramics and wood. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Emporia State University in Kansas, Herrold began his professional career as a curator of Wichita Art Museum Mobile Gallery in Kansas (1968-1970). After he got his master’s degree from Wichita State University in 1972, he accepted an offer to teach ceramics at DePauw University where he remained until retirement in 2007. Examples of his work can also be found on display in the Ruschman Gallery in Indianapolis.
Nancy Lovett
Nancy Lovett has worked in clay for more than 25 years. She studied with Richard Peeler at DePauw University and credits his teaching for inspiring her passion of “creating in the mud.” After graduation, Lovett continued her studies at IUPUI while teaching in the public school system. In 1978 she accepted a position as Resident Artist/Potter with Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, running their ceramics program and making pots for a living. After fulfilling a wide variety of careers with potting on the side, Lovett returned to DePauw University where she is currently Major Gifts Officer. She is still potting today and enjoys giving her work to donating alumni. Her work may be found on display with the Greencastle Galleria.
Lance Myers
Lance Myers uses the Putnam County surroundings to influence and enhance his unique pottery. Since the establishment of Pinhook Pottery in 1992, Myers has made use of the surrounding woods, water and wildlife during the creation of his sculptural, hand built and hand thrown pottery. Myers’ eclectic creations reflect his unique perspective of the world around him.
Rita Nichols
Rita Nichols has been an artist and potter for more than 30 years and has studied at universities and art institutes in California, Indiana, New Hampshire, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. She holds a B.S. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. As a freelance artist, she has worked in various mediums: oils, pastels, photography, lithography, woodcut, stone sculpture, and clay. As a scientific illustrator and graphic artist, she felt that working with clay was an antidote to the strict and meticulous methodology of commercial art. Clay is Nichols’s main focus and gives her the satisfaction and freedom of expression that had always been, for her, the essential appeal of clay. Currently Nichols creates pottery at Windblown Studio in Rochester Mills, Pennsylvania.
Charles Todd Wagoner
Charles Todd Wagoner, a 1975 graduate of Greencastle High School, worked many years with Richard Peeler; he furthered his education at schools such at Ball State, Wisconsin, Indiana University, and Indiana State University, achieving advanced degrees in art history and art education. Wagoner has taught at North Vermillion Junior/Senior High School since 1986. He has been awarded many prestigious honors along with memberships in national councils for ceramic arts. Wagoner and his wife are potters at Billie Creek Village, and emphasize creation’s function and utility in their work. A selection of Wagoner’s work is on display in the permanent collections of Taylor University and Indiana State University.