BIOGRAPHY

Often referred to as the "grandmother of ceramics in Montana," Frances Senska (1914-2009) was instrumental in cultivating the state's early ceramic arts scene. In 1946 she founded the ceramics program at Montana State College in Bozeman; there she taught her students all aspects of making clayworks: the digging, drying, grinding and mixing of clay; the forming of ceramic wares; the final firing processes. Senska's students included a number of influential ceramists including Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos. Her influence on Voulkos could be seen in his mastery of monumental wheel-thrown stoneware vessels with wax resist surface technique.

Born in the port city of Batanga in the German Empire colony of Kamerun (now Batanga, Cameroon), Senska came to America for the first time in 1929. She earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iowa in 1935 and 1939, respectively. Her undergraduate training was in lithography, and her graduate degree in applied arts, specializing in sculpture. From 1939 to 1942 she taught art at Grinnell College, then spent the next four years serving in the United States Navy during World War II, where she was trained as a pilot. She was posted to a base in San Francisco and rose to the rank of lieutenant. Senska became interested in ceramics after taking a class from legendary ceramist Edith Heath, then teaching at the California Labor School. She also studied under Maija Grotell at Cranbrook and Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm, solidifying her modernist credentials.

After relocating to Bozeman and resuming her career as an art professor, Senska influenced the development of the Archie Bray Foundation from its very beginnings and was a founding member of the Montana Institute for the Arts (now Montana Arts Council). While teaching at Montana State, Senska met fellow art professor Jessie Spaulding Wilber. The two women became lifelong friends and companions.

Honors Senska received over the course of her career include an honorary membership to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) in 1979, an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Montana State University in 1982, a fellowship with the American Craft Council in 1988, the Montana Governor's Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts in 1988, and the Archie Bray Foundation's Meloy-Stevenson Award of Distinction for Outstanding Service in 2003.

Senska died on Christmas Day 2009 at her home in Bozeman, Montana.

Other resources:

Oral history interview with Frances Senska, April 16, 2001 -- Smithsonian Archives of American Art

Frances Senska - Art All the Time -- PBS