Janice L. Sultz

Janice L. Sultz, née Miller, acclaimed ceramic artist, teacher, and mentor to countless students, passed away on February 27, 2025, at the age of 91, in Wilmette, Illinois. Jan is survived by her daughters Heather Sultz and Jennifer Sultz, her cousin Susan Farrell (Richard), and by many cherished friends and colleagues, and generations of students for whom she was and continues to be a lifelong inspiration.
Jan was born and raised on Staten Island, NY, and attended Wagner College there, as a Painting major under the tutelage of Warren Robinson. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, and won the Nicum Prize for highest standing in scholarship. Her earliest exhibits of paintings were at the Contemporary Arts Gallery and the Art Students League, New York, NY. Her direction toward clay forms developed as a graduate student at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, under the influence of Maija Grotell and Zoltan Sepeshy. At Cranbrook, she met and married her lifelong love, painter Phil Sultz. She taught in higher education for over 30 years, first at the University of Missouri, then initiating and developing the Ceramics program at the Kansas City Art Institute in the late 1950's, and later at Webster University, St. Louis, MO, where she taught alongside Phil in the Art department for 24 years.
Some galleries where her exquisite stoneware ceramics have been exhibited include Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY; Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA; University of Maine at Machias, Machias, ME; A.J. Bueche Fine Art, Northeast Harbor, ME; Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME; Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL; Elliot Smith Gallery, St. Louis, MO; Signet Arts Gallery, St. Louis, MO; America House, New York, NY; The XXI Ceramic National, Syracuse, NY. In addition, her photography has been exhibited at the Teton County Library, Jackson, WY. Jan's pottery is lovingly housed in many private collections.
In addition to her teaching career, Jan worked on a Montana ranch for two summers, and was employed as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service. With her husband Phil, she served as a fire lookout and backcountry patrol Park Ranger in Grand Teton National Park. After leaving college teaching, she and Phil lived and created art at their studios in Downeast Maine for over 30 years.
Jan was a soft spoken but powerful force of determination. She had a brilliant and inquisitive mind, and she was strongly drawn to the natural world about which she had great depths of knowledge. Pioneer stock through and through, she was happy and content amid forests, streams, and tidepools. She designed and oversaw the building of the home in Maine which she and Phil loved, planting prodigious gardens, harvesting crops, and making maple syrup from the trees on their land every year. To the end, though frail in many ways, she still had an iron will and an iron grip from a lifetime of shaping pottery on the wheel, kneading bread, planting gardens, and gently caring for two little girls. She taught her daughters every day how to be in the world, living a full and creative life. She will live on forever in those who loved her and learned from her.
Arrangements are pending.
Suggested organizations for donations in memory of Jan: Natural Resources Defense Council - nrdc.org The Nature Conservancy - nature.org National Park Foundation - nationalparks.org
Funeral info: 847.673.6111 or to leave a condolence message, please go to habenfuneral.com, click on Janice's obituary, and post a message under Tributes. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Janice, please visit our floral store.