'Stoked' about Saint John’s Pottery: Book Celebrates 30 Years

Liturgical Press is pleased to announce the publication of the Saint John's University Press title, Stoked: Five Artists of Fire and Clay. This lavishly illustrated book by Matthew Welch explores a range of contemporary American ceramics while commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the Saint John's Pottery Studio. Its nearly ninety color photographs showcase the work of Richard Bresnahan, the potter who established the studio in 1979, and four other artists who studied with him and became masters in their own right.

The introduction to the book tells the story of Bresnahan, a small-town boy from eastern North Dakota and graduate of Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, who landed an apprenticeship with the famous potter Nakazato Takashi in southern Japan. A journal entry of his from 1975 reads, "I am in a place of excellence, peace, and earthiness with an unbelievable knowledge of clay." His knowledge was so great that his teacher gave him the title of "master potter." After returning to the United States, Bresnahan accepted an offer from Saint John's to be its first artist-in-residence. That summer of 1979 marks the beginning of what is now the Saint John's Pottery Studio.

Stoked also accompanies the nationally touring art exhibit by the same name, which launches September 3, 2010 on the Saint John's campus. The exhibit will display the work of the five artists discussed by Welch: Kevin Flicker, Samuel Johnson, Stephen Earp, Anne Meyer, and of course, "master potter" Bresnahan.

Matthew Welch has been on staff at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts since 1990. He has coauthored several books and in 2001 wrote the award-winning Body of Clay, Soul of Fire: Richard Bresnahan and the Saint John's Pottery. A specialist in Japanese Zen painting, Welch spent four years at Kyoto University as a Fulbright scholar and received his PhD in Asian art from the University of Kansas. As curator of Japanese and Korean art at the Institute, he has organized eleven exhibitions, including "First Fire," which featured ceramics by Richard Bresnahan from the inaugural firing of Saint John's Johanna kiln. In 2008, the museum made Welch its assistant director for curatorial affairs, and since 2003 he also has served on the editorial board for Saint John's University Press. He lives in Minneapolis in a Japanese-style house with his wife and two children.