Ceramic work by Frank Martin

“The focus of my work explores the freedom within the limits of utility. Through the use of color and form, an investigation of the division and the reassembling of disparate elements is considered either for special celebration or for everyday use. I am inspired by the results of process, the interactions of color and form, and the physiognomic perception of an object. In my work, intent of function is vital and inescapable. My goal is to challenge the viewer’s notion of an object’s “use”, while assuring that the vessel performs flawlessly in its function and beautifully in its appearance.”

Frank R. Martin, long-time colleague and ceramics associate professor at the UT School of Art, has decided to leave academia and focus on his studio practice. The faculty and staff of the school celebrated with him in September, 2022, wishing him success as he looks forward to the opportunities that lie ahead. Martin has been named a Professor Emeritus.

Martin will be greatly missed for his teaching in the classroom, his support of students in the Pottery Club, as well as his active leadership in the annual UT School of Art High School Art Academy.

Martin’s work can be viewed at frankrmartin.com.

Frank Martin earned his M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art and his B.F.A. from Kansas City Art Institute. He has taught at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Rhode Island School of Design, The State University of New York at New Paltz, and was Departmental Director at Chautauqua School of Art, Worcester Center for Crafts, and the 92nd Street YM-YWHA in Manhattan, New York. He was craftsman-in-residence at Pewabic Pottery (1989/90). Since 1987 he has conducted numerous workshops throughout the country, was a recipient of a FY09 Individual artist Fellowship, Tennessee Arts Commission Competition Award. His work is in the collection of the Charles A. Wusum Museum of Fine Arts in Racine, WI, UND Permanent Collection; Grand Forks, ND, Wisconsin, Crocker Art Museum; Sacramento, CA and the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art, NY. His work has been included in various articles and recently published in Electric Kiln Ceramics: A Guide to Clay and Glazes (2015), American iPottery by Kevin A. Hluch, iTunes Books, The Best of 500 Ceramics: Celebrating a Decade in Clay, 500 Vases: Contemporary Explorations of a Timeless Form, and 500 Platters & Chargers: innovative expressions of function & style, Lark Books.