Radius Gallery is honored to present the works of three Montana ceramicists—Rudy Autio, David Shaner, and Frances Senska—whose tenacity, curiosity, and artistic vision shaped generations of artists to come.

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RUDY AUTIO

1926 - 2007

Born in Butte, Rudy Autio emerged as one of America’s preeminent ceramic artists. He had tremendous influence as a teacher and mentor, and shepherded the Archie Bray Foundation through its foundational years. He also established the ceramics department at UM and taught there for nearly 30 years. He conducted over a hundred workshops nationally and internationally, which helped unite the clay community.

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DAVID SHANER

1934 - 2002

David Shaner is an icon in the field of American ceramics. As the fourth director of the Archie Bray Foundation, he was instrumental in securing it as an international art center. He is known for exquisitely formed vessels with understated glazes that are effortlessly in tune with the natural world. His wife Ann lives in Missoula and remains a strong advocate for the ceramic arts.

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FRANCIS SENSKA

1914 - 2009

Often called the "Mother of Montana Modernism,” Francis Senska had a literal hand in building the ceramics program at MSU Bozeman and the first pottery at the Archie Bray Foundation. She taught for over 30 years, with pivotal figures like Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos as her students. Aside from her beloved partridge forms, Senska's distinctive pots are largely functional. She encouraged artists to be in charge of the full process of their art, which for ceramics meant digging local clays and making glazes from natural materials.

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