Kay Feist

1941Born Great Falls, Montana

EDUCATION

1963BA Art, English, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

1967MA Ceramic Sculpture, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1963-1964Art, English Teacher, Livingston High School, Livingston, Montana

1968–Professional Potter, Great Falls, Montana

1969-1976Arts and Crafts Director, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls, Montana

1984-1988Professor of Art, University of Great Falls, Great Falls, Montana

BIOGRAPHY

Kay Feist is known for wheel-thrown and hand built stoneware functional and decorative ceramics with a focus on slab built mugs and sculpture. Her work is made using a variety of techniques and fired in a gas kiln to cone 10 (2, 350 F). Wheel-thrown forms are completed on a kick wheel, while hand built work is made from rolling flat slabs of clay and forming them when leather hard. The imagery in Feist’s surface treatments range from geometric to biomorphic. She relies on colored clay slips, fine applicators, sprigging and sgraffito to develop patterns before glazing and firing.

While the majority of Feist’s works revolve around function, Feist also makes ceramic masks and figurative sculpture. She primarily works with stoneware clays and completed work features an earth-toned palette. A student of Rudy Autio and Frances Senska, Feist took their ceramic advocacy efforts in the state of Montana to heart.

Over the course of 40 years, Feist rebuilt and moved her 40 cubic foot gas kiln several times to areas where artists would directly benefit. In 2015, she gifted her kiln to Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in Great Falls, Montana for use in their Ceramic Arts Programing.  

A gifted teacher and ceramics technician, Feist has shared her knowledge and expertise with countless makers in Montana.