We have stumbled into the 21st Century with the advanced technologies of "Star Wars" and the emotional maturity of cavemen. The problems of human civilization are far too complex to be solved by means of explosive devices. If we can't find more creative solutions to solving worldwide social and political problems than sending young men and women to shred and incinerate one another's flesh with weapons of ever increasing efficiency, we will not survive to celebrate the passage into the 22nd Century. And to make a dangerous situation worse, our country and too many of our fragile planet's nations are now in the hands of ego-driven megalo-maniacs, ideological thugs and fundamentalist tyrants who are fumbling the planet towards World War III.
— Richard Notkin
Richard Notkin has been a full-time studio artist for over 50 years. He has a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, and an MFA from the University of California, Davis. Notkin’s series of Yixing (China) inspired teapots and ceramic sculptures have been exhibited internationally and are in more than 75 public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan. He has held visiting artist positions and conducted over 350 workshops throughout the world. Among his awards, Notkin has received three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council, and was also awarded the Hoi Fellowship by the United States Artists Foundation. He is the recipient of the Meloy Stevenson Award from the Archie Bray Foundation, and the Honorary Membership Award from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.