Artist
Maija Grotell
Finland/USA
The mother of American ceramics. Teacher of teachers.
She trained a generation of American ceramicists at Cranbrook—and pioneered the large-scale vessel.
Maija Grotell left Finland for America in 1927 and eventually headed the ceramics department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she taught for 28 years. Her students read like a who's who of American ceramics: Toshiko Takaezu, Richard DeVore, Howard Kottler. She pioneered large thrown forms with experimental glazes, combining Scandinavian craft traditions with American scale.
What legacy might you leave through teaching?