Hunt - "100 Variations of a Bowl" Snapshot of 39 out of 100 porcelain bowls, all the same size with variations of blue and white color scheme

Bill Hunt • Ohio (1946- )

100 Variations of a Bowl • Porcelain 5” x 5” x 2” each

When “why not?” is as important as “why?” You’re a former philosophy major who took up ceramics because there are only, like maybe, 6 philosophy jobs available … worldwide. Ceramics sounded like an easy “A “at the College of Wooster and you soon found you were having way too much fun. While pursuing a Master of Fine Arts Degree at the Ohio State University, the Head of the Art Department at tiny Valley City State College on the plains of North Dakota, noticed your work and asked you to join his faculty. “Why not?”

Before leaving for the frozen tundra (an exaggeration, but still) Bill Hunt asked OSU graphics professor Sid Chafetz for some teaching advice. “Stay one lesson ahead of the kids and you’ll be fine.” It worked for about two years until Hunt quit over the college’s new support of the Vietnam war.

In 1972, the editor of Ceramics Monthly magazine died and its owner decided he didn’t want to hire the usual journalism major. Hunt, who had gone 8 months without a paycheck, soon joined the staff, partly because of the curiosity he’d developed while pursuing his philosophy degree. Over the next 22 years Bill Hunt traveled the world visiting and interviewing top ceramicists. “It was like I got a couple of PhD’s for free. I got to see how they lived, worked and who influenced them.” Why couldn’t he do what they did? Why not?

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So in 1994, he quit the editorship to make ceramics full time.

In 1999, the Columbus College of Art & Design called and asked if they could coerce him into teaching there. “Why not?”

“That’s the way life goes. Every time I’ve taken a substantial risk, as frightening as it might be, it always worked out.”

Today Bill Hunt is a full-time studio artist in Delaware, Ohio. His interest in blue and white porcelain, grew from studying European and Japanese ceramics. “People have appreciated blue and white porcelain for centuries. It’s often associated with royalty and top-of-the-line stuff.” For the Columbus College of Art & Design’s 125th Anniversary exhibition, Hunt set out to make 125 bowls, wondering if he could decorate each piece differently. He did, but pruned the original 125 to the best 100 now in the Canton Museum of Art’s Permanent Collection. “Actually, I gave them 101, in case one broke.” Why not?

Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection
Doran Foundation in Memory of Edward & Rosa J. Langenback 2005.6.1 - .101

4 Ways to Sound Smart When Viewing at The Canton Museum of Art

1.
“The son of a Presbyterian minister, this guy was preordained to attend the College of Wooster.”

2.
“He edited Ceramics Monthly for 22 years. Talk about learning on the job, he had the best seat in the house.”

3.
“100 bowls, each with different decoration and feet. Now that’s a challenge.”

4.
“Is ceramics art or craft? As Bill Hunt said: ‘You can’t trace the entire history of art without ceramics, but not with just oil painting’. Enough said.”

Hunt Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1946

Born in York, Pennsylvania. His father was a Presbyterian minister who moved around quite a bit and young Bill attended school in Pittsburgh, Fort Lauderdale, FL and Philadelphia.

1964

Enrolls at the College of Wooster which he describes as “the family school.” His father wants him to follow his footsteps into the ministry, but Bill decides to pursue a degree in Philosophy instead. A professor points out the slim career opportunities for philosophers, so Bill enrolls in ceramics courses.

1970

Receives Master of Fine Arts degree from the Ohio State University. While there, he is offered an instructor’s position at Valley City State College in Valley City, North Dakota. A year later he is Acting Chairman of the Art Department, but quits after a disagreement about the Vietnam War.

1972

Joins the editorial team of Ceramics Monthly an international publication headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Over the course of his 22-year career at the magazine, he rises to the position of Editor.

1977

Spends a month at Red Deer College in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada as Artist in Residence.

1982

Spends a month as Artist in Residence at Denison University, Granville, Ohio.

1986

Spends May and June as Artist in Residence at The Ceramic League of Miami, Florida.

1993

Returns to Red Deer College to spend May and June as Artist in Residence, International Ceramics Residency.

1994-99

Full-time studio artist at Hunt Studios in downtown Columbus. During this time he also teaches part-time at Kenyon College, the Ohio State University and Columbus College of Art & Design.

1995

Serves as Artist in Residence at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, as part of a collaboration between the school and about 50 artists and craftspeople from across the United States. He produces sculptural architectural details for Arrowmont’s buildings.

1996

Spent March through June as Artist in Residence at The Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana.

1997

Spent spring session as Visiting Artist at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

1999

During the summer, lectures and demonstrates making planters for the Toledo Botanical Garden in Toledo, Ohio.

1999-2012

Resumes full-time teaching career as Professor of Fine Art and Art History at Columbus College of Art & Design in Columbus, Ohio.

2012

Retires as Professor Emeritus from Columbus College of Art & Design. Devotes his time to travel and work as a studio artist at his farm in Delaware, Ohio.