Susan Harnly Peterson

Peterson, Susan Harnly
Susan Harnly Peterson, ceramic artist, writer, and professor passed away at home in Scottsdale, AZ on March 26, 2009 after a long illness. She was surrounded by her family and dear friends. Born in 1925 in McPherson, Kansas she was the daughter of Iva, a painter and Paul Harnly, an educator. She was the valedictorian of 1943 senior class of Grand Island, (Nebraska) Senior High School. She graduated from Mills College in Oakland, CA in 1946, taught at Punahou School in Honolulu and then went to the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY to complete her MFA in Ceramics. She met and married her husband Jack L. Peterson, a ceramic engineer, while there. She began teaching ceramics first at Whittier Union High School in California and later at Chouinard Art Institute (1952-5) and then for 23 years at the University of Southern California. Throughout that time she lived in South Pasadena, CA. From 1956 -1985 Professor Peterson taught at Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts (ISOMATA) each summer. She continued her life as an educator at Hunter College in New York City, finally retiring from teaching in 1994. Professor Peterson traveled extensively throughout her lifetime. She became an advocate for ceramic arts throughout the United States and the world. In 1964 she attended the first World Craft Conference held at Columbia University and met many international artists. She did workshops and gave lectures over many years in countries as diverse as Japan, Australia, India, China, Sweden, England, and throughout the United States. She brought well known foreign ceramic artists to work and teach in the United States. She produced 54 half hours of television programs called Wheels, Kilns, and Clay for CBS-KNXT. She helped establish many studios and programs to assist artists including ceramic departments at Chouinard, USC and Hunter, ISOMATA, Clayworks Studio Workshop in NYC, and the Appalachian Center for Crafts. In 1997 she curated "Legacy of Generations, Pottery by American Indian Women" for the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. She began her writing career in 1974 with a book on potter Shoji Hamada, a living treasure of Japan. Next came books on two important American Indian potters, Maria Martinez and Lucy Lewis. The Maria book was the best selling art book of 1978 and won the Cowboy Hall of Fame award for the best Western Art Book of the year. The Craft and Art of Clay (published in 5 languages) was published in 1990 and was followed by several other college texts on ceramics. Jun Kaneko was published in 2001. She was in the process of completing the 5th edition of Craft and Art of Clay at her death. In 1969 she received Knight of Order of the Lion of Finland, followed by becoming a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 1983, and in 1985 she received the Hunter College President's Award for Creativity from Dr. Donna Shalala. In 1996 the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts gave her its Lifetime Achievement Award and the same year she received the New York State Governor's Award. The Charles Fergus Binns medal was awarded by the School of Art and Design, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1998. In 1999 The College of Fine Arts of Arizona State University gave her The Distinguished Achievement Award. She was to be honored in April for her work with the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. Professor Peterson influenced the lives of countless students and artists throughout the world and leaves a legacy of ceramic education and passion for the arts. The Arizona State University Art Museum Ceramics Research Center dedicated the Susan Harnly Peterson Ceramic Research Archive in 2002 where much of her expansive personal collection of books, slides, lecture notes, and pottery allows artists, scholars and students to study. A memorial service is planned for May 9th at Arizona State University-Tempe Campus, Lattie Coor Building, Room 170 starting at 2:00p.m., followed by a reception at the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center. Donations to honor Professor Peterson may be made to Arizona State University Art Museum, P.O. Box 872911, Tempe, AZ 86287, attention Peter Held, Curator of Ceramics. She is survived by her children Jill Hoddick, Jan Peterson and Taag Peterson, and 7 grandchildren.