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Richard Bresnahan's Vita
Richard Bresnahan
Artist In Residence
College of Saint Benedict / Saint John’s University
PO Box 6377 Collegeville, MN 56321
320-363-2930
1953 Born Casselton, ND
1972-1976 B.A. Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN
1975-1979 Apprenticeship with Nakazato Takashi
1979-present Artist in Residence and Master Potter, CSB / SJU
1979 Built five-chamber wood kiln “Taki-gama”
1980-present Instructor: January Interim “Art and Sustainability” and 4-credit
“Environmental Art & Aesthetics”
1993-1994 Built four chamber wood kiln “Johanna-gama”
Exhibitions: Solo
1980 “The Tastes of Japan In Ceramics”, Benedicta Arts Center Gallery,
St.Joseph, MN
R.O.T.C. Cookie Jar Exhibition, Alcuin Library, Collegeville, MN
1981 Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
1982 “Tanegashima / Wood Fired Ceramics by Richard Bresnahan of Minnesota”, The
Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
Rourke Art Gallery, Moorhead, MN
1984 “Wood Fired Clay”, Owatana Arts Council, Owatana, MN
“Wash & Ware”, Benedicta Arts Center Gallery, St.Joseph, MN
1986 “Prophetic Messenger Series”, Nobles County Art Center, Worthington, MN
1987 Stearns County Historical Society, St.Cloud, MN
The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
1989 “Wood Fired Clay”, University of Minnesota-Morris, Morris, MN
1990 “Wood Fired Ceramics”, Saint Paul Gallery, St.Paul, MN
1996 “First Fire: Richard Bresnahan and New Pottery from St.John’s, The Minneapolis
Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
1997 Rehfeld’s Dakota Galleries, Sioux Falls, SD
The Howard Conn Fine Arts Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1998 Minnesota Historical Society, History Center, St.Paul, MN.
1998 & 1999 Red Lake Falls Clayworks, “Of The Land” exhibition, Red Lake Falls, MN.
2002 Augsburg College Gallery, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN
2004 State of North Dakota Gallery, Bismarck, ND
2005 Winona State University, Winona, MN
2006 The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
Exhibitions: Group
1980-1997 Annual Midwestern Invitational Exhibition (17 exhibitions),
Moorhead, MN
1981 “Five Minnesota Artists”, Metro Center Museum, Rockford, IL
“Fire & Ashes”, Pittsburgh Center for The Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
1983 “New Surfaces New Colors”, St.Cloud State University, Kiehle Visual Arts Gallery,
St.Cloud, MN
1984 “Wood / Fire”, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago , IL
“Functional Clay”, North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND
“Platters and Related Forms”, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL;
Esther Saks Gallery, Chicago, IL and Benedicta Arts Center, St.Joseph, MN
1985 Surface / Function / Shape”, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
1986 “East Meets West”, Rourke Art Gallery, Moorhead, MN
“Minnesota Artists Exhibition”, C.G.Rein Galleries, Edina, MN
1991 American Woodfire ’91”, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA
1997 “Plains: Take Two”, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
“A View From Avon”, Gustavus Adolphus College, St.Peter, MN
“Clay Today”, Edina Arts Center, Edina, MN
“Apprenticeship: Alternative Education Pottery”, Memorial Union Gallery,
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
1998 “Tea Bowl Exhibition”, University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, WI
1999 “Different Stokes”, International Organization of Woodfire Artists, Invitational
Exhibition, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
“Koie Ryoji, Richard Bresnahan, Karen Terbstra: Woodfire Exhibition”, Woodard
Gallery, Iowa City, IA.
2001 “Here by Design”, Goldstein Museum, University of Minnesota, St.Paul, MN.
“The Making of a Book”, General Mills Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2001-2002 “TwentyTwo Ways of Clay” A National Ceramics Invitational, University of
Texas-Tyler, Tyler, Texas
2001-2003 “Body of Clay, Soul of Fire”, Richard Bresnahan and Art from the Saint John’s
Pottery (traveling exhibition) at: Saint John’s University Art Center, Alice R. Rogers and Target Gallery,
Collegeville, MN;
Visual Art Center at the Washington Pavilion of the Arts and Sciences, Sioux Falls, SD;
University of Minnesota-Morris, Morris, MN;
North Dakato Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND;
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN;
Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI
2002 “Here By Design/Made In Minnesota”,Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN
“To Pour” A National Invitational Art Works Gallery, Bozeman, MT
2004 “Kettles; Japanese Artistry and American Artists”, Carlton College Gallery,
Northfield, MN
2005 International Ceramics Conference Exhibition, Coe College, Coe IA
Exhibition, Hibbing Community College, Hibbing, MN
“Shape of Tea” Art Complex Museum, Duxbery, MA
Midwestern Invitational, Rourke Museum, Fargo, ND
“East and West: Japan and American Wood Fired Artist”, Island Gallery,
Seattle, WA
2006 “Tea Time: The Art of the Teapot” Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
Japan/USA Exhibition, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM
The Grand Hand Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Peace and War Exhibit, Rourke Gallery, Moorhead, MN
21st Century International Wood Fire Exhibition, Northern University of Arizona
Museum of Art
2007 “5x30 Exhibition”, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
International Wood Fired Tea Bowl Exhibition, Island Gallery, Seattle, WA
Elmhurt Museum 10-year Anniversary Exhibition, Chicago, IL
Firings of the Johanna Kiln
1995 First Firing
1997 Second Firing
1998 Third Firing
1999 Fourth Firing
2000 Fifth Firing
2002 Sixth Firing
2004 Seventh Firing
2005 Eighth Firing
2006 Ninth Firing
Lectures
1980 Benedicta Arts Center, College of St.Benedict, St.Joseph, MN
Institute of Spirituality, St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN
M.F.A. Lecture Series, Visual Art Dept., UND, Grand Forks, ND
1982 “The Potteries of Japan”, The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
“The Potteries of Japan”, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
1983 A Symposium on Woodfiring Aesthetics: “Woodfiring: To What End? Where
Next?”, panelist and presenter, Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ
1985 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Friends of the Institute, “Indigenous Reality: Raiders
of the Lost Art. Translation from Japan to Minnesota”, Minneapolis, MN
1988 Guest Artist and lecturer, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN
1991 Presenter and lecturer, “Wood Kiln Designs and Uses”, University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA
1994 “Ecological Architecture, Clay as a Nature Based System”, Keynote
Commencement speaker at University of Pennsylvania, at Slippery Rock,
Slippery Rock , PA
1995 “Japanese Pottery and Its Influence on Ceramic Artists in Minnesota”, Minneapolis
Institute of Arts and NCECA, Minneapolis, MN
1996 “The Firing,” Film and Dialogue with Matthew Welch, John Whitehead,
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
“Art and Nature: A Potter’s View”, slide lecture, Minneapolis Institute of Art,
Minneapolis, MN
1997 “Benedictines and the Environment”, Atchison, Kansas
“Beyond Japan / United States Trade Wars; Many Doors” Third Annual Kobe
College Symposium at the MIA, featured speaker: “Art As A Cultural Bridge”,
and panelist, Minneapolis, MN
“Eco-Architecture”, North Dakota State University Architecture Dept., Fargo, ND
1998 “An Ancient Fire to a Humane Future”, annual Lindbergh Lecture,
Minnesota Historical Society, History Center, Saint Paul, MN
“Convocation: Liturgy and the Arts”, United Theological Seminary, New Brighton,
MN. Keynote Speaker
1999 “An Ancient Fire to a Humane Future, ” Keynote Speaker for the American
Institute of Architecture and ACSA Regional Meeting, North Dakota State
University,Fargo, ND.
“Different Stokes”, International Organization of Woodfire Artists, Speaker and
Moderator, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA
2000 American Institute of Architecture, Lake Superior Retreat, Keynote Speaker for the
AIA, Regional and Canadian Retreat.
“Indigenous Materials, the Saint John’s Pottery”, Creativity & Sustainable
Environments, the Fourth Annual Creativity Conference. Saint John’s University,
Collegeville, MN.
“Indigenous Materials, the Saint John’s Pottery”, Art and Spirituality, Saint Marks
Episcopal Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN.
2001 Keynote Lecture and Workshop, American Ceramic Society 103rd Congress,
Indianapolis, IN
“Tea and Contemporary Environmental Movements,” Carlton College,
Northfield, MN
2002 “Body of Clay/Soul of Fire” Lecture, Washington Pavilion of Arts, Sioux Falls, SD
“Spirituality and Native Systems”, Hamm Clinic Conference on Mental Health,
Spiritual Development and the Arts, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN
“Body of Clay/Soul of Fire” Lecture, University of Minnesota at Morris, Morris, MN
“Body of Clay/Soul of Fire” Lecture, North Dakota Museum of Art,
Grand Forks, ND
“Continuities”, Augsburg College Lecture, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN
2003 “Body of Clay/Soul of Fire” Lecture, Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN
Dialog: Nora Hall and Richard Bresnahan. At The Episcopal House of Prayer;
Collegeville, MN
2004 Convocation Speaker for First Year Students; Faculty Development Speaker,
University of Minnesota at Morris, Morris, MN
Arts Quest Lecture. State of North Dakota Five Lecture Series over three-day
period, Bismarck, ND
2005 International Ceramics Conference, “Wood Fired Kiln Building”, Coe College,
Coe IA
“Tea and the Environment”, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
Guest Lecturer, Winona State University, Winona, MN
2006 21st Century International Wood Fire Conference and International Exhibition
Lecture at Northern Arizona University
Workshops / Residencies
1982 Artist in Residenc, Boston University, Boston, MA
1983 & 1985 Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1996 “Utilitarianism and the Creative Potter”, workshop and lecture, Minneapolis
Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
“Tea Ceremony: Two American Perspectives”, workshop and lecture, Minneapolis
Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
1997 Ceramics Workshop, NDSU, Fargo, ND
Artist in Residence, Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Center, MA
Lectures/ Slide presentations at University of Iowa: Wood kiln building, Wood kiln
loading, Eco- Architecture, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
1998 “Of the Land: Pottery Plus”, Red Lake Falls, MN; first indigenous resource
workshop in Minnesota
1999 “Of the Land: Pottery Plus II”, Kiln Building Workshop, Red Lake Falls, MN
2002 Saint John’s Pottery Symposium, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD
Saint John’s Pottery workshop and Kiln Building Lecture, University of Minnesota
at Morris, Morris, MN
Saint John’s Pottery Symposium, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND
2003 “Body of Clay/Soul of Fire” Lecture, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Saint John’s Pottery Symposium, Lake Superior College and the University of
Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN
“Environmental Sustainability”, University of Minnesota Graduate School of
Architecture Retreat
2004 “Continuities In Clay”, Augsburg College Workshop, Minneapolis, MN
University of Minnesota-Morris, Morris, MN, Faculty Development, Clay
workshop. First-Year Students, Clay workshop.
MNSCU Artist Workshop, Winona State University, Winona, MN
“Environmental Sustainability”, University of Minnesota Graduate School of
Architecture Retreat
“Environmental Art and Design”, four-credit class offered at SJU/CSB
2005 Hibbing Community College. Workshop in clay, Slide lecture, Hibbing, MN
“Environmental Art and Design”, four-credit class offered at SJU/CSB
“Environmental Sustainability”, University of Minnesota Graduate School of
Architecture Retreat
2006 “Environmental Art and Design”, four-credit class offered at SJU/CSB
“Environmental Sustainability”, University of Minnesota Graduate School of
Architecture Retreat
Publications / References
1982 “Gallery”, American Craft, v.42, no.6
1983 “Richard Bresnahan”, Ceramics Monthly, v.31, no.4
A Journal of the Arts Lower Stumpf Lake Review, 1983, 1985, 1991
1991 American Woodfire ‘91, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA
1992 “A Portfolio of American Woodfired Pottery”, The Studio Potter, v.11, no.1
1996 “Out of the Fire” by Matthew Welch, published in Arts V.19 no.4, Minneapolis
Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
“First Fire: Richard Bresnahan and New Pottery from St.John’s”,
Asian Arts Council, v.2, no.3
“Starting From Here: Dakota Poetry, Pottery, and Caring” by Jerome Freeman,
“Pottery by Richard Bresnahan”. Ex Machina Publishing Co., Sioux Falls, SD
“First Fire”, by Richard Bresnahan, The Studio Potter, v.24, no.2
1997 “Cultural Hero Richard Bresnahan: The Art Of Life”, Utne Reader, no.79
“Richard Bresnahan: Stoneware Artisan, Potter, Teacher, Kiln Maker,
Environmentalist”, by Jean Paschke. The Crafts Report, Nov. 1997
1998 “The Japanese Pottery Tradition and Its Infuence on Americanm Ceramics,"
by Gerry Williams. American Craft, v.58, no.2., Studio Potter
2000 “Water and Woodfiring” by Richard Bresnahan, v.28, no.2., Studio Potter
“Water and Woodfiring” by Owen Rye, Ceramics Technical. Austrailia
2001 “Here by Design” catalog to exhibition, by Lindsay Shen, Goldstein
Museum, St. Paul, MN.
“Betty Crocker’s Indian Home Cooking” by Raghavan Iyer, featured ceramics by
Richard Bresnahan.
Body of Clay, Soul of Fire: Richard Bresnahan and the Saint John’s Pottery by
Matthew Welch, Afton Historical Press
“Renewing the Countryside: Minnesota” by Jan Joannides, Beth Waterhouse and
Tim King
2003 “Mentorship”, by Richard Bresnahan. Studio Potter, Volume 31, No. 2
Pages 13-14
Collections
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN
Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
Yamanouchi Tea Ceremony Foundation, Kyoto, Japan
Society of Art & Crafts Museum, Boston, MA
Goldstein Collection, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Rourke Art Gallery and Museum, Moorhead, MN
City of Nagasaki, Nagasaki Holocaust Museum, Nagasaki, Japan
Hill Reference Library, Saint Paul, MN
John & Kimiko Powers Collection, Carbondale, CO
Mary Burke Collection, New York, NY
Sarah and David Lieberman Collection, Phoenix, AZ
Earl Millard Collection
Edina Art Center, Edina, MN
Owatana Art Center, Owatana, MN
Nobles County Art Center, Worthington, MN
The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
The Iowa Museum of Art, University of Iowa
Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM
Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, MI
North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND
Washington Pavillion of Arts & Sciences, Sioux Falls, SD
Tweed Museum, Duluth, MN
Awards / Grants Received:
1976, 1994, 1995 Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation, St. Paul and
New York City
1979-2007 Bush Foundation, St. Paul, MN
1980 National Endowment for the Arts (Service to the Field) Award
National Endowment for the Arts (Individual Artist Grant) Award
1980-2003 Grotto Foundation, Apprenticeship Awards, St. Paul, MN
1981-2007 Jerome Foundation, Emerging Artists Awards, St. Paul, MN
1985-90, 96 Central Minnesota Arts Council grants
1996 Business For Social Responsibility, Earth Day Award
Natural Resources Research Institute,Research in Indigenous Clay grant
1998 Saint Paul Nagasaki Sister City Committee, first Lifetime
Membership Award
The Charles Lindberg Award, Minnesota State Historical Society,
Individual of the Year Award
2000-01 Saint John’s Abbey and University, Target Corporation, Grotto Foundation,
Jerome Foundation, Star Tribune Foundation and generous contributions
from private donors for the Body of Clay book and tour
2006 Chip Fricke Award, St. Paul Nagasaki Sister City Award
2002-07 McGlynn Family Foundation Apprentice Program, Minneapolis, MN
Feature Films
1996 “The Firing”, Tapes Rolling Series. Produced by John Whitehead
& KTCA-TV, 1996. Broadcast regionally.
1997 “Clay, Wood, Fire, Spirit: The Pottery of Richard Bresnahan”,
Produced by John Whitehead & PBS, 1997. First national broadcasting,
5/1/98. Awarded two regional Emmy Awards: “Best Cultural
Documentary for 1997”, “Best Editing”. Premier screening at Minneapolis
Institute of Art, Mpls, MN
Subsequent screenings:
Japan Society, New York City, NY
Brooklyn Museum of Arts, Artists in Film Series, Brooklyn, NY
Sundance Film Festival 1998
2004 “Designing Lives Worth Living, Laura Lee Alban”, Muriel Copper
Award in Design
2007 Fire Artist: Documentary Film about Shiho Kanzahi, Claude Gagnon Films.
10/16/07