The Pond Farm Collection, named for the Guerneville, California, home and
school of noted ceramic artist, Marguerite Wildenhain, was created to celebrate
her artistic and educational legacy by providing tangible evidence of the
accomplishments her students. The Collection is composed primarily of ceramic
art but consists also of other art works, all created by students who attended
the Pond Farm summer workshops offered by Wildenhain for over thirty years
(1947-1980). Countless reminiscences by many of these students testify to
the vivid impression Wildenhain left on everyone with whom she had contact.
The concept of a Pond Farm Collection was prompted by two visionary exhibits:
the 1996 Luther College sponsored exhibit, The Visible Core, held as part
of the centenary celebrations of Wildenhain’s birth, and the 2002 exhibit,
Ripples: Marguerite Wildenhain and Her Pond Farm Students, curated at California
State University, San Bernardino. Both exhibits featured art works created
by "Pond Farmers" pursuing a variety of careers, including professional
artists. A selection of these students, focusing on those who participated
in these exhibits, was asked to contribute a mature art work they had created
to form the core of the Pond Farm Collection.
This "named collection" will be used to educate a varied audience
of students and faculty, campus visitors, artists and scholars, about the
enduring imprint of the Bauhaus educated ceramic artist whose teaching inspired
the creation of the works. It recognizes significant bodies of work contributed
by multiple donors which are considered to contain research value beyond
the local or regional level.
The importance of Wildenhain to the Fine Arts Collection at Luther College
is immeasurable. Over her lifetime, she visited Luther College at least
seven times presenting workshops and instructing students. In 1969, she
was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree in recognition of her
many contributions as artist and teacher. Through the influence of Art Department
faculty member, Dean Schwarz, she also became a patron of the arts at Luther
College. Her superb gift of her own best pots was supplemented with subsequent
donations of rare books, her rock and mineral collection, drawings, and
important personal papers. She also bequeathed to the College her splendid
collection of drawings, woodcuts, and sculptures by her teacher and mentor,
the German artist Gerhard Marcks. The resulting Marguerite
Wildenhain Collection forms the single most important collection of
art works within the Luther Fine Arts Collection.
The Pond Farm Collection continues to grow as Pond Farm alumni either create
new works of art or rediscover older works they feel best represent their
artistic abilities. Art works illustrated on this website range from a bowl
created by a woman who attended Pond Farm in 1947 to works constructed by
younger students who only knew Wildenhain through her later workshops. As
new works are contributed, the educational mission of the Fine Arts Collection
will continue to be strengthened and the legacy of Marguerite Wildenhain
assured at Luther College and beyond.
Ref: Pond Farm Collection. [exhibit catalog] Decorah, IA: Luther
College, 2003; Ripples: Marguerite Wildenhain and Her Pond Farm Students.
[exhibit catalog] San Bernardino, CA: California State University, 2002.
