Mary Barringer

1950 Born Wilmington, Delaware 

EDUCATION

1968, 69Sculpture, Summer School, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York

1972BA Ceramics, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont

APPRENTICESHIPS AND RESIDENCIES

                 1971  Worked with Michael Frimkess, Venice CA

1988, 1990, 2010, 2018  Artsist in Residence Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, North Edgecomb, Maine

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1973—Independent Studio Artist

1982-1988Lecturer in ceramics, Greater Hartford Community College, Hartford, Connecticut

1993-1994Visiting Lecturer, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

       1996           Visiting Lecturer, Ohio

University, Athens OH

       1997         Visiting Lecturer, Hartford Art School, Hartford CT

UnknownHaystack Mountain School of Craft, Deer Isle, Maine

UnknownPenland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina

UnknownArrowmont School of Art and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

      2002-2004   Assistant Editor, Studio Potter journal

2004-2014Editor, Studio Potter journal

               2018   Perkins Lecture, Alfred University, Alfred NY

BIOGRAPHY

Mary Barringer is known for functional pots in which the surface technique is integral to the pot’s construction and not only its appearance. She uses multiple layers of slip and glaze that are scratched, stained, and sanded resulting in the integration of the decoration with the clay beneath.  Occasionally Barringer also creates sculptural forms. 

While at Bennington College, Barringer studied with Stanley Rosen who encouraged her to visit other clay studios and working potters. Barringer visited artists around the United States including Karen Karnes, Dave Shaner, Ken Ferguson, Ralph Bacerra, Robert Arneson and Michael Frimkess. In the summer of 1971 Barringer returned as an apprentice at Frimkess's studio in Venice, California. After college Barringer moved to Hartford, Connecticut and a few months later set up her first pottery studio, Park Street Potters. In the late 1980s Barringer moved to Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts where she lives and continues to work in her studio. 

An interview with Mary Barringer conducted November 20-21, 2011 by Sequoia Miller, for the Bard Graduate Center's Craft, Art and Design Oral History Project is available at:
https://bgccraftartdesign.org/items/show/15