Dean Schwarz

Dean Schwarz is a prolific Iowan potter, whose pottery is internationally renowned, and he is an important figure in the development of a pottery tradition in Iowa. Like many other potters who developed their art after the influential work of early mid-century potters, he has spent much of his career creating functional pottery, but with a unique painterly and artistic quality that has led to great recognition. They are traditional in form, but imbued with the history of the medium and the imaginative eye of the maker. Schwarz attended the Iowa State Teachers College (today the University of Northern Iowa) in 1960 and then earned his M.A. in art at the same institution in 1961. Afterwards he joined the Navy, but spent much of his free time as he travelled visiting important international pottery studios, including that of Shoji Hamada in Japan. He also worked with Marguerite Widenhain at Pond Farm in California. She had been trained at the Bauhaus in Germany and had a great influence on Schwarz, they would work together for many years. Schwarz taught at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa from 1964 to 1984, where he helped to develop the ceramics program. He also opened and operated his own private summer school dedicated to the creation of art, such as pottery, painting, and poetry. The South Bear School was opened in 1970 and became a destination for many up and coming artists in Iowa. Schwarz was honored with a Fulbright Fellowship in 1971 and spent his time in South Korea studying traditional Korean pottery and teaching. The influences of his many interests can be found in his pottery, from Latin America to Korea and the Bauhaus of Germany. His pottery can be found in museums and educational collections throughout the world. Today Schwarz continues to create pottery, but with the help of his son Gunnar, who throws often large scale forms, which Schwarz then decorates with his unique designs. Dean Schwarz is not only an exceptional potter, but he is a teacher and has helped to give the art pottery of Iowa national recognition with his work and that of his many students who went on to become successful potters in their own right.