Richard Fairbanks ceramics exhibit opens in Randall Hall

During the month of June, the CWU Department of Art + Design will feature an exhibition by emeritus professor and renowned potter Richard Fairbanks. The works that will be displayed are selections from a much larger collection of artwork, archival documents, and memorabilia that was recently donated to CWU.

An opening reception for Richard Fairbanks: Centeral Washington Potter will be held Tuesday, June 3, from 5-7 p.m. in Gallery 100 (Randall Hall, room 100).

Fairbanks taught ceramics at CWU for 26 years, from 1963-89. In addition to his influence as a professor, Fairbanks was known for his wheel-thrown vessels created from a coarse stoneware clay.

Fairbanks, who died in 1989, was born and raised on a family farm in Yakima. He studied under Paul Bonifas at th,e University of Washington when he was an undergraduate, and received his Master of Arts from Mills College in Oakland, California, in 1955, under the tutelage of Antonio Preito.

His mature work was inspired by research from 1959-60 at the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki, Finland, for which he received a Fulbright Fellowship. He was also inspired by studies that he conducted in Eastern Europe in 1986. His work is included in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Arabia Museum in Helsinki, among others.

Dixie Parker-Fairbanks' generous donation to CWU included her late husband’s pottery, a collection of her own paintings, and a nearly $1 million fund to support the proper preservation of the university art collection.

The Department of Art + Design has begun the effort to preserve the Fairbanks’ artistic legacy through paid student internships and the cataloging of the donated works.

Richard Fairbanks: Centeral Washington Potter will remain on view through June 24. Gallery 100 is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is closed weekends and on June 19 for the Juneteenth holiday.

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Image caption: Richard Fairbanks, Bowl, 1975, stoneware with temmoku glaze, 7 ¹⁄₈ x 10 ¹⁄₄ in., Collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum, Dixie Parker-Fairbanks