Cynthia Bringle (born 1939) was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and has lived and worked in

Penland, North Carolina Penland is an unincorporated community in Mitchell County, North Carolina, United States. Penland is west-northwest of Spruce Pine. Approximately 200 year-round residents live in the community, the center of which is the Penland Road bridge cros ...

since 1970. She is a potter and teaches at the

Penland School of Crafts The Penland School of Craft ("Penland" and formerly "Penland School of Crafts") is an Arts and Crafts educational center located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, about 50 miles from Asheville. History The school was ...

, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and John C. Campbell Folk School.

About

Cynthia Bringle knew from an early age that she was interested in art, especially painting, so as a student she decided to attend the Memphis Academy of Arts with a focus on painting. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the

Memphis Academy of Art Memphis College of Art (MCA) was a private art college in Memphis, Tennessee. It was in Overton Park, adjacent to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. It offered Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Art Education and ...

in 1962 and a Master of Fine Arts from

New York State College of Ceramics The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (NYSCC) is a statutory college of the State University of New York located on the campus of Alfred University, Alfred, New York. There are a total of 616 students, including 536 undergradu ...

, Alfred University. Bringle was named a North Carolina Living Treasure in 2009. She was honored as a Fellow of the

American Craft Council The American Craft Council (ACC) is a national non-profit organization that champions craft based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb, the council hosts national craft shows and conferences, publishes a quarterly mag ...

in 2000. Her work is in the collection of the Burlington Art Center, the

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...

, and the

Mint Museum The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collection ...

of Craft and Design. Her work, ''Tea Pitcher'', was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the

Renwick Gallery The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...

's 50th Anniversary Campaign. Cynthia Bringle represented the United States at the First American International Ceramic Symposium, which consisted of twenty-five artists from thirteen different countries, and was hosted in the summer of 1973 at the Memphis Academy of Arts. In addition to an influential career as a teacher, Bringle has exhibited throughout the United States in numerous galleries, museums, and craft exhibitions. In 1992 she was interviewed for the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

for the Archives of American Art Oral History Program

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bringle, Cynthia 1939 births Living people American women artists Crafts educators Educators from Memphis, Tennessee Women potters Fellows of the American Craft Council New York State College of Ceramics alumni Artists from North Carolina 21st-century American women Artists from Memphis, Tennessee Memphis College of Art alumni