Artist: Wayne Branum
Wayne Branum, WISCONSIN
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I share a studio with Mark Pharis near Roberts, WI. Mark and I have shared an intense love of pots since beginning clay work as students in 1967 at the University of Minnesota.
My ceramic work began with and is rooted in utilitarian pottery. The work has evolved, from Asian and American traditional pottery forms, to forms influenced by a lifelong interest in building forms and architecture. For the past 30 years or more a segment of the work has expressed elements of vernacular architecture and tries to evoke a sense of iconic shelter made by humans. I have a curiosity about our human interaction with the land and how it evolves. The most recent explorations are evolving the building forms into having figurative elements.
While I work in an exploration way to develop ideas I continue to produce
functional pots that are intended for daily use as well. There are cross-references that inform all the work.
I have also practiced architecture since 1991, and as a principal with SALA Architects, Inc. since 1996, and now as “emeritus principal” since 2014.
ACADEMIC TRAINING
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 1966-1971, BFA 1971
University of Minnesota Graduate School, Minneapolis, MN 1971
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 1971-1972
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE-CERAMICS
Graduate Assistant, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 1971
Fellowship, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 1971-1972
Resident Artist, Milaca Public Schools, Milaca, MN1974-1977 NEA Grant
Instructor, St Cloud State University, St Cloud, MN 1978-1980
Instructor, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 1980-1981
Instructor, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, CO Summer 1982
Potter, Branum Pottery, Milaca, MN 1973-1984
MacKenzie Pottery Stillwater, MN 1984-1993
Branum/Pharis Studio, Roberts, WI 1992-present
CERAMICS WORKSHOPS
Casper College, Casper, WY 1981
Appalachian Center for the Crafts, Smithville, TN 1982
Kent State University, Kent, OH 1983
Montgomery Potters Guild. Montgomery County, MD 1983
The Octagon Center for the Arts, Ames, Iowa 1984
Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities, Sun Valley, Idaho
“Confluence” Continental Clay Company. Minneapolis, MN 1995 NCECA
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL 1999
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
1981-2003
Minnesota Pottery: A Potter’s View, University of Minnesota Museum Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Scripps Annual Ceramic Exhibition, Lang Art Gallery, Claremont, CA
Functional Ceramics, The College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH
Useful Pots, Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO
Spouting Ideas, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
American Ceramic National, Downey Museum of Art, Downey, CA
Macalaster Invitational ’83,Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, St Paul, MN
Woodfiring in America, Craftsmen’s Gallery, Scarsdale, NY
Surface/Function/shape, University Center Gallery, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, ILL
Contemporary Clay ’85, University Art Gallery, Rohnert Park, CA
Clay National, Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
The Minnesota Connection, The Craftsmen’s Gallery, Scarsdale, NY
Utility Plus, Minnesota Gallery of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Potter’s Potter’s, Lowe Art Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Beyond Craft: A Celebration of Creativity, School of Visual Arts, NY, NY
“Warren MacKenzie Teacher: Followers In The Functional Tradition," University Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
The MacKenzie Legacy, Manchester Craftmen’s Guild, Pittsburgh, PA
Functional Pottery: Two Generations, Nancy Margolis Gallery, NY, NY
New Work, The Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI 1994
Across The Big Muddy, Clay Artists of Wisconsin, The Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI 1995
Wood Fired Pottery, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA 1996
National Clay Invitational, Clay/Wood/fire/salt, Contemporary Artifacts Gallery, Berea KY 1996
Tracing Tradition, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN 1997
Clay/Wood/fire/salt, Folk Art Center-SHCG, Ashville, NC 2000
Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH 2000
New Work, Raymond Avenue Gallery, St Paul, MN 2001
25 Select 25 Gallery1021: Lill Street, Chicago, IL 2001
Functional Connections, Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA 2002
Mingei Legacy, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA
Recent Work, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Centering: Clay and the Midwest, Freehand, Los Angeles, CA
2004
“Raw” Santa Fe Clay Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
New Work, Trax Ceramics Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2005
Gas It UP: Salt, Soda, & Slip, The Potters Guild of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
2006
Recent work, Andrews University, Barrien Springs, MI
2007
Recent work, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM
Group Show, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC
2008
Yunomis, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Inspired: Students of Warren MacKenzie, Houston, TX
Double Chamber: Kilns of MN and WI, Trax Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2009
American Pottery Festival, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
“Potters as Sculptors, Sculptors as potters” NECECA 09 Mesa, AZ
2010
“8 Fluid Ounces”, LSU School of Art, Baton Rouge, LA
“American Pottery Festival 2010”, NCC Minneapolis, MN
“Bricks and Mortar: Inspired by Architecture” Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM
“Studio Ceramics 2010” The Signature Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2011
“ Classmates”, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
“ Rob Forbes Selects” The Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
“ Pattern & Decoration”, a group Show, Tax Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2012
“Don’t Box Me In” Signature Contemporary Craft, Atlanta, GA
Wayne Branum/Peter Presnail, Raymond Ave. gallery, St Paul, MN
2014 Ceramic Invitational Exhibition, Bloomington Art Center for the Arts, Bloomington, MN
2015
“MacKenzie, Cuellar, Branum”, Trax Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2017
“Branum & Pharis”, Schaller Gallery, St Joseph, MI
2018
“Branum & Pharis New Work”, Clayakar, Iowa City, IA
Persistence of Mingei, Weisman Art Museum, University of MN.
PUBLICATIONS
Studio Potter, Winter, 1975-1976
Ceramics Monthly, May, 1974, 1984
Craft Connection, 1st Qt. 1981, Sidelines
Ceramics Monthly, summer, 2002 “Functional Connections”
“See For Yourself” Rob Forbes, 2011
Ceramics Monthly, “Spotlight: Soul and History”, 2015
AWARDS/OTHER
National Endowment for the Arts, Craftsmen Fellowship, 1978
Practicing Architect, Registered in States of MN, WI, 1991 to Present
Principal with Sala Architects, Stillwater, MN 2000 to Present
Studio partnership with Mark Pharis, Roberts, WI 1991 to Present