Ilse R. Johnson

Ilse R. Johnson, age 89, died in her home in Wellfleet, Massachusetts on June 6, 2014, and passed peacefully surrounded by loving family.
Ilse was born in Wangen, Germany April 10, 1925 and immigrated to New York City in the 1930s with her mother Klara and father Frederick. Ilse attended Washington Irving HS, graduated from The Cooper Union in NYC in 1947, and went on to the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University earning a BFA and MFA. Dedicated artist and educator, she was a lecturer at the NY State College of Ceramics; Department Head at the Henry Street Settlement; an instructor at the Greenwich House Pottery; industrial Design Consultant for Corning Glass Works and for twenty years a Professor of Art, at Trenton State College, NJ where she taught ceramics and art education.
She is survived by her children, Nate ('62) of Wellfleet, Rebecca ('58) of Albion, California, and Christopher ('56) of Arlington, Virginia, and two grandchildren, Eric and Phillip by Christopher and Jacqueline Mendel, and additionally by her sister Judith M. Reswik of Arlington, TX. Ilse was married to Phillip Johnson for 49 years; together they lived in NYC, Montrose, NY and then in Hopewell, NJ for over thirty years, eventually moving to Cape Cod in 1991. Passionately active in the Wellfleet community and sincerely dedicated to liberal causes, she was a founding member of the Wellfleet Community Forum, a participant in Adopt a Pond sponsored by the National Seashore and a lifetime member of The Friends of the Wellfleet Library. She taught ceramics at Castle Hill in Truro and volunteered at local elementary schools. She was a member of the Visual Artist Cooperative and the Nauset Fellowship UU, Chapel in the Pines, in Eastham, MA. As a potter, sculptor, and painter Ilse embraced innovation. An example of her open perspective was her interest in Creative Baking culminating in a show she co-curated and participated in at The Museum of Contemporary Crafts in Manhattan. She then co-authored, The Bakers Art, published by the MCC of the American Crafts Council in 1967. Cookies and cathedrals glazed with good-to-eat glass in Life magazines December 1972 issue, Joys of Christmas featured Ilses colorful sculptural cookie and candy creations. In 1971 she was a featured artist in the Academy Award nominated documentary, Art Is. As a performer/educator she was the Cookie Lady on CBSs, The Patchwork Family, and CNN filmed Ilse demonstrating artful sand casting in the series Creative Artists on Cape Cod. Ilse was a Visiting Professor at the International University of Luxembourg and Lugarno, Switzerland ('76-'80) and Exchange Professor at the University of Frankfurt, Germany in ('80), Whos Who of American Women noted Ilses brilliant career, citing her inclusion in exhibits at Cooper Union in NYC, Rutgers University Graduate Center, The New Jersey State Museum and Newark Museum in NJ, The Museum of Natural History, The Brooklyn Museum and The American Craft Museum in NYC, as well as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., where she is in the permanent collection. Amazingly in the mist of her career accomplishments Ilse was a loving mother making the Johnson house and studio in Hopewell, NJ a vibrant nurturing environment. In all creativity there is a magic moment when the dream takes shape, a moment in time when thought becomes object to be seen, felt and shared with others, Ilse R. Johnson.
A memorial service is planned, August 17, 2014, 2PM at the Wellfleet Public Library.