Biography

Born: 1928, Elwood, IN. Died: 2004, Shawnee Mission, KS. Education: American Academy of Art, Chicago; Carnegie Institute of Technology, BFA, 1952; Alfred University, MFA, 1954. He has taught at various institutions, including Carnegie Institute, Alfred University, the Archie Bray Foundation in Montana, and has headed the ceramics department at Kansas City Art Institute since 1964, becoming professor emeritus of ceramics in 1996. Legacy: Under Ferguson's influence KCAI has become one of the most important ceramics schools in the country. His students from the 1970's now dominate the leading edge in American ceramics - Richard Notkin, Chris Gustin, Akio Takamori, Kurt Weiser and others. Collections: His work is included in numerous public collections including the Everson Museum of Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Mint Museum of Craft and Design; Carnegie Museum and the Charles Wustum Museum of Art. In 1995 his legacy both as an artist and as a teacher was surveyed in two exhibitions Ken Ferguson: Retrospective at the Nelson/Atkins Museum, Kansas City and Keepers of the Flame: Ken Ferguson's Circles at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City