Please join us Monday, 4 December 2023 at 1:00PM EST for a conversation with Pucker Gallery artist Randy Johnston, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts co-founder, ceramicist, and friend Chris Gustin, Gallery Associate Caroline Staller, and Gallery Director Bernie Pucker.

This event will be a chance to view new work by Randy Johnston and learn about his illustrious 51-year career in ceramics.

The exhibition Maker of Memory will be on view at Pucker Gallery from 9 December 2023 through 28 January 2024.

About Our Panelists...

Randy Johnston is a recognized artist who has exhibited internationally for 51 years. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Bush Foundation Artist Fellowship, two Visual Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Distinguished Teaching Award in American Arts from the James Renwick Society of the Smithsonian, and the Walter Gropius Award for Artists. A member of the International Academy of Ceramics, Johnston received his MFA from Southern Illinois University and a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Warren MacKenzie. He also studied in Japan at the pottery studio of Tatsuzo Shimaoka (who was himself a student of Shoji Hamada). Johnston has presented hundreds of lectures and guest artist presentations worldwide, and his work is represented in numerous international museums and private collections.

Chris Gustin was born in 1952 in Chicago, IL, and grew up in Los Angeles, CA, where he was surrounded by ceramics. Chris went to the UC Irvine in 1970, where he studied biology and sociology. He went on to attend the Kansas City Art Institute, from which he received a BFA in ceramics in 1975 and then to graduate school at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, receiving his MFA in 1977. Chris established his first clay studio in 1977 in Guilford, CT with his sister-in-law. He has taught at Parsons School of Design in New York, Boston University, Swain School of Design in New Bedford, MA, and Southeastern Massachusetts University. In 1986, he became involved with a small group of artists interested in preserving an old brick factory in southeast Maine. Along with this group, Chris helped found the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, ME. Watershed is now thriving, offering residencies to artists from around the world. After twenty years of teaching, Chris retired to devote himself full-time to studio work and his tile production company, Gustin Ceramics Tile Production.

Caroline Staller is a ceramic sculptor and educator. She attended New Mexico State University in 2011 and graduated in 2015 with degrees in Fine Art and Biology with a Biochemistry minor. She completed her MFA in Ceramics from the University of Missouri in 2021 where she studied under artists Bede Clarke and Joseph Pintz. Her small-scale tableaus and carvings of horses are peaceful and reflective with a focus on the beauty she sees in ‘simple’ objects both made by hand and found, which is reminiscent of her childhood exploring the desert on horse-back and finding unique objects aged by its harsh elements. She has taught ceramic sculpture at Harvard Ceramics where she encouraged students to focus on a close conversation with clay through color, texture, and form. Caroline currently works at her home studio as well as Pucker Gallery.

Bernie Pucker is the director of Pucker Gallery, which he founded with his wife, Sue, on Boston's historic Newbury Street in 1967. Pucker Gallery represents over fifty artists from around the world, presenting ­­­approximately ten exhibitions annually, often paired with artist talks, virtual “WebinArts,” and Gallery receptions. Bernie is currently a Board Member at the Japan Society, Boston, and the Jewish Publication Society. He also serves on the Leadership Council for Facing History and Ourselves as well as the Artistic Advisory Board for the Terezin Music Foundation. Previously, he has served as President of Solomon Schechter Day School, President of the Newbury Street League, and Board Member for the Friends of Copley Square and The Unity Project, among others. Bernie received his MA in Modern Jewish History from Brandeis University and his BA in History and English Literature from Columbia College.