A special exhibition entitled “Ripples: Marguerite Wildenhain and Her Pond Farm Students” will open October 3, 2002. This exhibition is presented courtesy of the Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, California State University, San Bernardino. The exhibition, curated by art educator and ceramist Dr. Billie Sessions, will celebrate the contributions of Marguerite Wildenhain to the worlds of ceramics and ceramics education by featuring objects by Wildenhain and selected works from former students who have since remained active artists.

The public opening reception will be in conjunction with the Fifth Annual Dorothy Wilson Perkins Ceramic History Lecture to be held October 8, 2002. The speaker, prominent ceramics historian Elaine Levin, will discuss Marguerite Wildenhain’s place in ceramic history. Ms. Levin also wrote an article for the 132-page catalogue accompanying the exhibition. Exhibition curator Dr. Billie Sessions will also be in attendance.

On Monday, November 4, 2002, AU Professor Emeritus Val Cushing will present the slide lecture "Marguerite Wildenhain: Inspirational and Passionate about Her Craft" at 4 p.m. in Binns-Merrill Room C.

Bauhaus-trained master potter Marguerite Wildenhain was the first of only seven ceramics students at the Bauhaus, a design school in Weimar, Germany. In 1949, she and other Bauhaus artists opened an artist cooperative workshop known as Pond Farm in Guerneville, California. Wildenhain lived at Pond Farm until her death in 1985. Her secluded life at Pond Farm was entirely dedicated to making pottery and working with students. She maintained a summer clay-workshop believing that students needed to have complete devotion to learning the fundamental nature of the material and only then they could explore the creative aspects of their craft. Her students are as much a part of her legacy as is her work. The two dozen students each summer ranged from beginners to professional ceramists, and included high school teachers, university students, professors, and independent potters.

Eva Kirsch, Director of the RVF Art Museum, coordinates all aspects of the exhibition. The exhibition objects are selected from the Luther College in Decorah, Iowa collection and other private and public collections in Northern California.