Sandy Simon, Sandra Lee Simon

1949Born

EDUCATION

1967-1970University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1967-1970Faculty, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

1970-1978Studio Potter, Farmington, Georgia

1978-1979Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

1979-1980Professor, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

1980-1982Professor, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, Tennessee

1990-1994Professor, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California

1995—Founder and Owner, TRAX Gallery, Berkeley, California

Sandy Simon’s work is characterized by minimal forms and clean simple glazing on porcelain. The addition of wire handles or other alterations, including cutting, piercing, and relief are used to enhance the minimal forms.

Simon embraced the tenets of what is now known as the Mingei-Sota school, an aesthetic and philosophy of making pottery that grew out of the Japanese Mingei tradition as practiced by Warren MacKenzie and later adapted by many of the studio potters of Minnesota. Mingei embraces simplicity, utility and timeless beauty of folk-art handcrafted pottery. Simon studied with Curtis Hoard and Warren MacKenzie at the University of Minnesota in the late 1960s.

In 1995 Simon opened TRAX Gallery in Berkeley, California to provide greater representation for potters making functional work.