While traveling through Europe as a symposium artist in the early 2000s, Brad Schwieger was deeply impressed by the eclectic architectural styles he encountered— from medieval buildings to the Art Nouveau and Neo-classicist styles of the 1930’s. In Barcelona, he was particularly influenced by the amazing work and prolific vision of Antoni Gaudi. Says Schwieger, "I find an interesting parallel between architecture and pottery. Like architec- ture, pottery deals with elements of form and structure, the interior and exterior, utility and containment, surface detail and adornment. I have attempted to synthesize these interests and produce work that shares the minimal and complex, the miniature and monumental, the formal elements of design, the implied and the possibility of actual function."
Schwieger has been teaching at Ohio University since 1990 and is presently a Professor of Art and Ceramics Area Chairman. Prior to that he was an Associate Professor at Vincennes University in Indiana. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Utah State University and his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa. Schwieger has shown his ceramics nationally and internationally. His work has been included in exhibitions throughout the US, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, England, Germany, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Spain. His work is included in numerous collections including the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, NC. His work has been published in Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, Clay Times, Ceramics Art and Perception as well as several textbooks.