Ceramics professor wins national teaching award

Gail Kendall, Hixson-Lied professor of art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has received the 2009 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts' Excellence in Teaching Award. The award will be presented at the council's national conference April 8-11 in Phoenix.

The Excellence in Teaching Award places Kendall in the elite company of the finest educators in the country, recognized for their many years as extraordinary teachers, demonstrated excellence in their own work and continuing accomplishments among students.

"As a student of Gail Kendall's, I have seen her create opportunities to fulfill her artistic inquiries through travel and research and actively work in her field as an accomplished studio potter and artist. In turn, Gail shares her dedication and experiences with her students," said Autumn Cipala of Nescopeck, Pa., a third-year graduate student in ceramics. "Gail is invested in her students, both current and alumni, and she serves as a strong role model. Her steadfast commitment to the ceramic field and dedication as an educator is an inspiration. She is very deserving of this award."

Kendall is a ceramic artist who has shown her work in more than 22 solo and two-person exhibitions and more than 150 group exhibitions, including the Sheldon Museum of Art, the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Wisconsin, the Clay Studio in Philadelphia and the Fusions Gallery in Australia. Her ceramic work is included as part of the collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the General Mills Corp. in New York City.

Kendall has presented more than 80 workshops and lectures nationally and internationally. She was selected to present a Nebraska Lecture on her work as part of the 2006 Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series.

Her research interests include Mediterranean Basin earthenware ceramics, Christian and Islamic illuminated manuscripts and English pottery and porcelain. She has been a resident artist at Spode Fine China Works in Stoke-On-Trent, England; the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mont.; and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine.

In 2003, Kendall was a participant in the Attingham Trust Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses in England. Her work has been the subject of articles in periodicals and books, including Ceramics: Art and Perception (Australia), Neue Keramik (Germany), and "The Ceramic Surface" by Matthias Ostermann. Most recently, her pottery was featured in Emmanuel Cooper's new book, "International Ceramics," published by A & C Black, London, 2008.

She was named a Hixson-Lied professor of art in 2006. The Hixson-Lied professorships recognize the work of the most outstanding faculty in UNL's Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.

Kendall earned her bachelor of science in design at the University of Michigan and her master of fine arts at Eastern Michigan University. She spent 10 years working as an independent studio artist in St. Paul, Minn., before accepting a position in the UNL Department of Art and Art History in 1987.

The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts promotes and improves the ceramic arts through education, community-building, research and creative inspiration. For more information, visit www.nceca.net.