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1939Born Cleveland, Ohio
EDUCATION
1963BFA Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
1965MFA Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1970-2003Professor of Art, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1974Co-founder, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Kenneth Vavrek is known for wheel-thrown or slab-built stoneware sculptures and vessels.
A visit to the Southwestern deserts in 1975 inspired the work of the following 20 years; a series of sculptures, wall pieces, and vessels. A number of the vessel forms created during this time are raku fired. This body of work led to a series of wall pieces that are more abstract than the desert-themed work. In 2008 Vavrek began an even more abstracted body of work that includes large wall platters as well as wall sculptures.
In 1974 Vavrek was a co-founder of The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Fu Le International Ceramic Art Museums, Fuping, Shaanxi, China
Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Minnesota
Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, Mississippi
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Widener University Law School, Wilmington, Delaware
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Ken Vavrek’s Wall Sculpture.” Ceramics Monthly (March 1983).
Sachs, Sid. “Kenneth Vavrek.” American Ceramics (January 1983).
WEBSITE(S):
Citation: Clark, Donald. "The Marks Project." Last modified November 4, 2019. http://www.themarksproject.org:443/marks/vavrek