Warren MacKenzie

Shino Teapot by Warren MacKenzie

circa 1980

Warren MacKenzie is recognized as a true master of 20th-century ceramic art. Through his traditional wheel-thrown vessels, hIs pottery embodies strong influences from Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada. His work consistently represents the confidence of where the potter’s hand is felt and touched through the utilitarian pots that are produced for use in everyday life. Among other numerous awards, MacKenzie was named a Regent’s Professor, a fellow of the International Academy of Ceramics, and was the first to receive the Minnesota Governor’s Award in Crafts in 1986. In 1997, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Crafts Council and in 1998 was honored with the Gold Medal from the American Crafts Council. His work is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; The National Folk Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan; the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England; Contemporary American Crafts Museum in New York; Bernard Leach Study Collection in Bath, England, the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul and the Weisman Art Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minneapolis.