NEHMA | Collection - Nan McKinnell (aka Nan Bangs)

Nan McKinnell

Ceramicist
American, (1913–2012) Wife of James F. McKinnell Known Affiliations: Margaret Hancock, Frances Senska, Jack Lenor Larsen, Paul Bonifas, Bernard Leach, Michael Leach, Peter Voulkos, Marguerite Wildenhain, Rudy Autio, Ruth Pennington, Clayton James, Kathleen Horsman, Edward and Mary Scheier, Nils Lou, Edward Osier, Aline Vanderbilt Webb, Ron Brown, Marilyn Scaff Humple, Paul Soldner, Karl Christiansen, Thomas Potter, Kenji Kato, Alec Lecky, Ruth Duckworth, Wayne Higby, Otto and Vivika Hieno, Warren MacKenzie, David Shaner, Gerry Williams

McKinnell, born in 1913 in Stanton, Nebraska, gained an appreciation for art at a very young age. Her father was a dentist and her mother was a homemaker, but both supported her artistic endeavors by enrolling her in piano lessons as well as private art lessons. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music and Education from Wayne State College in Nebraska, but desired change, so she moved to Seattle to resume working as a teacher. She applied for graduate school at the University of Washington, studying painting and design, but after taking a class in ceramic engineering, she quickly changed her major. While in graduate school, she met Jim McKinnell, whom she later married and worked in collaboration with for several decades. Their joint contributions to ceramic education through the Archie Bray Foundation as well as the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts helped shape 20th century American ceramics, resulting in the vibrant community that persists to this day.

Artist Objects

Browse as a List