Wayne Higby

Wayne Higby
D. Wayne Higby (born 12 May 1943, Colorado, USA) is an American artist working in ceramics.
The American Craft Museum considers him a "visionary of the American Crafts Movement" and recognized him as one of seven artists who are "genuine living legends representing the best of American artists in their chosen medium."
Biography
Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Higby received a B.F.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder, in 1966, and an
M.F.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1968. Since 1973, he has been on the faculty of the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY.
Working both as a ceramic artist and an educator, Higby has earned international recognition since his one-person show at the American Craft Museum in 1973. His work focuses on "landscape imagery as a focal point of meditation", and ranges from the vessel form to tile and sculptural works. Rather than focusing on its functional aspects, Higby uses the vessel form as a vehicle for imagery, often inspired by the western landscapes of his childhood, that highlights the interplay between light, space, and time.
"I strive to establish a zone of quiet coherence – a place full of silent, empty space where finite and infinite, intimate and immense intersect."
He is known for his inventive use of Raku earthenware, and an interest in porcelain following his experiences travelling and lecturing in China, where he has worked with artists to revitalize Chinese Ceramic art. He is Honorary President and co-founder(with Jackson Li) of the Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute at Jingdezhen, and an Honorary Professor of Art at both the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute and at Shanghai University, People’s Republic of China.
He is also vice president of the International Academy of Ceramics in Geneva, Switzerland.
Academic appointments
New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY, 1973–present
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, 1970–73
University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1968–1970
Awards
Distinguished Educator Award, James Renwick Alliance, 2002
Honorary Professor of Art, College of Fine Arts, Shanghai University, 2000
Recognition of Excellence, American Ceramic Society, 1998
American Craft Movement Visionary Award, American Craft Museum, 1995
College of Fellows, American Craft Council, 1995
Honorary Professor of Ceramic Art, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, P.R. of China, 1995
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, State University of New York, 1993
Master Teacher Award, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, 1990
George A. and Eliza Howard Foundation Fellowship, 1986
New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, 1985, 1989
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1973, 1977, 1988
Solo exhibitions
Wayne Higby: Landscape as Memory, 1990–1999, Museum of Art & Design, Helsinki, Finland, 1999
Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO, 1991, 1997
Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, CT, 1990
Helen Drutt Gallery, New York, NY, 1988, 1990
Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY, 1984
Okun-Thomas Gallery, St. Louis, MO, 1979
Helen Drutt Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1996
Exhibit A, Gallery of American Ceramics, Evanston, IL, 1975, 1978, 1980
Museum of Contemporary Crafts (American Craft Museum), New York, NY, 1973
Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, Long Island, NY, 1971
Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT, 1970
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE, 1969
Work in public collections
American Craft Museum (now The Museum of Arts & Design), New York City, NY, USA
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York City, NY, USA
Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI, USA
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, USA
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY, USA
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Jingdezhen Museum of Art, P.R. China
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, USA
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Museum for Contemporary art Het Kruithuis, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX, USA
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art, Alfred, NY, USA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Notes
References
External links
Faculty profile at Alfred University
1943 births
Living people
Artists from Colorado Springs, Colorado
21st-century American ceramists
University of Colorado alumni
University of Michigan alumni
Alfred University faculty
Artists from Colorado