Nan Bangs McKinnell

Nan Bangs was born July 1, 1913, in Stanton, Nebraska. As a child, her mother started Nan and her brother on piano lessons, an appreciation for the arts at a young age. As Nan got older, this skill served her well and was able to earn money playing for churches and performances. Nan was always drawn to the arts, spending her free time either at the piano or painting and drawing. Her parents encouraged her artistic spirit, providing her with private art lessons at nine. After graduating high school, Nan aspired to become a teacher, however with money being tight and higher education for women being uncommon at the time, her father was unsure. Being determined, Nan found a job working at the student supply store at Wayne State Teacher's College. The woman who ran the store, having just lost her shop hand, hired Nan on the spot and offered her room and board. Being in the right place at the right time and now employed, Nan was able to convince her father to help with tuition while she worked to earn her teaching certificate. Nan taught at a one-room school house for a year before returning to college and received her BFA in Music and Education. She taught at a town school in Nebraska for several years after graduating, but by 1940, she was dissatisfied with life and work in Nebraska and decided to move to Seattle. The two shared a love for the beauty in pottery and had a strong intellectual appreciation for developments in form, function, and technology. They dated in college and were married in 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, after Nan had completed her senior thesis project. She attended college in Wayne, Nebraska gaining a bachelor's degree in music and education and later received a M.F.A. degree in ceramics from the University of Washington. == Career ==

Nan's style was heavily influenced by contemporary and industrial design and her early work had a heavy focus on functionality. Her master's thesis project was a full tea set designed for mass production. Nan and Jim spent much of their married life traveling and creating together. Themes Nan had a certain affinity for teapots. She loved sharing tea with friends and collected teapots and tea sets made by friends and colleagues as well as making many of her own. She often used teapots as teaching tools for examples of functionality, form, technique, glazing and decoration. == Exhibitions ==

Solo exhibitions • 1993 – "Clay and Fire: A Journey", a retrospective of both Nan and Jim McKinnell's work, Vicki Myhren Gallery, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, U.S. • 2003 – "Still Fired Up", The Evergreen Gallery, Evergreen, Colorado, U.S. • 2012 – "Tea Time with Nan McKinnell", Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. Group exhibitions • 1963 – "9th International Exhibition of Ceramic Art," invitational, Kiln Club of Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Institution • 1970 – Archie Bray Foundation Exhibition, Smithsonian Institution Sales Gallery, Washington, DC, U.S. • 1974 – "The Second Chunichi International Ceramic Art Exhibition," Oriental Nakamura Art Gallery, Nagoya, Japan • 2011 – "Uncommon Ground: Impact and Influence," NCECA with Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, Colorado, U.S. • 2012 – "Women of Influence: Colorado Artist's and Curators," Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, Colorado, U.S. == Public collections ==

• ASU Art Museum, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, U.S. • Archie Bray Foundation Ceramics Collection, Helena, Montana, U.S. • CU Art Museum, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, U.S. • Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, U.S. • Trellis Vase (2004), Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver, Colorado, U.S. • History Colorado Center, Decorative Arts Collection, Denver, Colorado, U.S. • Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. • James and Nan McKinnell cup (1962), National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, U.S. • National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland == Awards and honors ==

• In 1977, Citation of Merit and lifetime Honorary Membership from the National Council of Ceramic Arts, alongside Jim McKinnell. • Founding member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. • Received the Colorado Artist Craftsmen's first Lifetime Service Award. • Received the Colorado Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities. • "Time in Tandem" (2003) a video documentary on the McKinnell's and their legacy. == Bibliography ==