Ruth Gowdy McKinley (1931 – December 8, 1981) was an American-born Canadian ceramic artist noted for her skill in designing functional ceramic ware. She specialized in making teapots, cups and vases.

Early life

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, McKinley originally studied classical piano from the age of four and was eventually offered admission to study at the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

in New York City. McKinley then made the decision to work with pottery by enrolling, instead, to study in the Department of Industrial Design at the New York State College of Ceramics in

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

. McKinley earned her MFA from

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred (village), New York, Alfred, New York. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The ...

in 1955. She came to Canada in 1967.

Career

In 1967, she became the resident Potter at Sheridan College of Art and Design in Missisauga, Ontario. In 1973, she made her exhibition debut at the ''Ceramics International'' 1973 at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and won the Metal award. In 1976, she became the first potter elected into the

Royal Canadian Academy of Art The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

. In 1997, her

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

was held at the

Burlington Art Centre The Art Gallery of Burlington, founded in 1978, is the seventh largest public art gallery in Ontario. The Gallery collects and maintains Canada's largest collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics. It is located on the City of Burlington water ...

. Her work is included in the collections of the

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec ( en, National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is situated in Battlefield Park and is a complex consisting of four bui ...

, the Art Gallery of Burlington, the

Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery , image= File:C2G2.jpg , established= , location= Waterloo, Ontario, Canada , visitors = 20,000 , director= Denis Longchamps , map_type = Canada Ontario , map_caption = Location of the gallery in Waterloo ...

, the

Gardiner Museum The George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (commonly shortened to the Gardiner Museum) is a ceramics museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is situated within University of Toronto's St. George campus, in downtown Toronto. The museum b ...

, Toronto; and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec. The Ruth Gowdy McKinley project records are in Archives Ontario.

Legacy

In 1993, in honour of Ruth Gowdy McKinley, the

opened in

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the c ...

largely due to the efforts of Gowdy McKinley’s friends and colleagues who wished to honour her memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinley, Ruth Gowdy 1931 births 1981 deaths Canadian ceramists Canadian women ceramists 20th-century ceramists New York State College of Ceramics alumni American emigrants to Canada Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts