Chronology

Compiled by Helen Drutt for Shaping Silence, A Life in Clay

1913
Born July 22, 1913, Port Washington, N.Y., to Quaker parents, Charlotte (Chapman) Turner and Henry Chandlee Turner. Father founded and directed the Turner Construction Company. Fourth child, four siblings.
1931
Graduates Brooklyn Friends School; childhood spent in Brooklyn, N.Y.
1932
Graduates from George School, a Quaker preparatory school, Bucks County, Pa.
1932–36
Attends Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa. Receives B.A. degree; majored in economics.
1936–41
Studies painting at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, with Henry McCarter, Francis Speight, and Daniel Garber. Interested in portraiture.
1938
Marries Sue Leggett Thomas of Sandy Spring, Md., whom he had met at Swarthmore College; resides in Wallingford, Pa.
1939
Receives Cresson Traveling Scholarship in Painting from Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; summer travel in Europe, especially Italy, studying Renaissance and Giotto. Leaves Europe in haste because of outbreak of World War II. Returns to live in Swarthmore, Pa., where Sue is assistant to Dean of Women, Swarthmore College.
1939–41
Attends Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pa. Lectures delivered by Albert Barnes and Violetta de Maria; Bertrand Russell delivers lecture series in the fall of 1940.
c. 1940
Journeys to New York to study work of Stuart Davis, the cubists, Picasso, Cezanne. Also interested in Renoir, El Greco, Velasquez.
1940
Receives second Cresson Scholarship from Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; travels to American museums, the Southwest, and Mexico, where he discovers David A. Siqueiros and his work.
1942–46
As a Quaker and conscientious objector, assigned to Civilian Public Service in forestry conservation, Big Flats, N.Y. Volunteers to do service at Training School for Mentally Deficient, in Pownal, Me. (1944–46).
1944
Birth of son, John.
1946–49
Enrolls in New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University, Alfred, N.Y., starting in fall 1946. Receives MFA from Alfred University in Industrial Ceramic Design, 1949. Studies under Marian Fosdick, Daniel Rhodes, and Charles Harder. Ted Randall and Joan Jockwig Pearson were fellow candidates for the MFA degree in 1949. Fellow students include David Weinrib, Ken Uyemara, Warren Gilbertson, Winslow Anderson, Susan Peterson, Alex Giampetro, Jane Van Alstyne, Bill Parry, Bacia Stepnero.
Works in his final semester in Daniel Rhodes's home studio.
1947
Birth of son, Robert.
First acceptance in Ceramic National Exhibition, Syracuse, N.Y. Exhibits footed stoneware ashtray, organic/abstract form.
1948
Serves as administrative head of the International Service Seminar under the American Friends Service Committee at Frances Shimer College, Rockford, Ill.
Awarded Honorable Mention, Ceramic National Exhibition, Syracuse, N.Y.
1949
Awarded prize, Wichita Decorative Arts Exhibition, Wichita, Kans., for Large Bowl, illustrated in catalogue.
1949–51
Initiates pottery program at Black Mountain College, N.C. Starts own pottery. Begins to draw from community of ideas in dance, science, literature, and social governance. Meets musician John Cage, color theorist and painter Josef Albers, Paul Goodman, dancer Merce Cunningham, dancer Katie Litz, weaver Trude Guermonprez; becomes friends with abstract painter Theodoros Stamos, art critic Clement Greenberg, emigre mathematician Max Dehn; and establishes lasting relationships with teacher and poet M. C. Richards, painter Joe Fiore, and physicist Natasha Goldowski Renner.
1950
Birth of daughter, Rosalind.
1950–52
Exhibits at Bertha Shaefer Gallery, NYC, during residency at Black Mountain College.
1951
Moves his family to a farm in Alfred Station, N.Y. Establishes independent studio. Joins faculty, summer program, Alfred University. American potters Isabel Dobson, Louis Mendez, and Karen Karnes were present.
Awarded prize, Ceramic National Exhibition, Syracuse, N.Y.
1952
Garden Bowl (with one foot) wins a purchase award at the Los Angeles Fair Association exhibition and is eventually acquired by Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
1952–58
Lives as a studio potter, making stoneware bowls, jars, candleholders.
1953
Solo exhibition at America House, NYC.
"Potter of the Year," Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pa.

1954
Exhibits functional pottery in solo exhibition at Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, N.Y.
Awarded prize, Ceramic National Exhibition, Syracuse, N.Y.
Japanese ceramist Kitaoji Rosanjin lectures at Alfred University, N.Y., and donates work.
1955
Awarded Silver Medal, International Ceramics Exposition, Palais Miramor, Cannes, France. (Gold Medal awarded to Peter Voulkos.)
1956
Solo exhibition at Bonniers, NYC. Exhibits functional pottery.
1957
Visiting Professor of Ceramics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
1958
Elected Craftsman-Trustee of American Crafts Council, N.Y.
1958–79
Joins faculty at Alfred University as special instructor in pottery and sculpture. Becomes full-time faculty member in 1966. Serves as acting head of Art Department in 1969–70 and as head in 1974–76. ("Numerous people over the years were important to me: students in the MFA program at Alfred included Ken Price 1959–60, Richard Shaw, David Shaner, and Frank Stokes. David Shaner and Norm Schulman assisted me in my studio.")
1959
In serving as juror for national exhibitions, meets many fellow artists including painter Richard Diebenkorn and weaver Ed Rossbach.
Member of Technical Advisory Committee for USIA in organizing European exhibitions.
1960
Augments teaching with ceramic workshops and seminars; participates in approximately six per year; locations include Banff, Canada; Aspen, Colo.; and Montreal, Canada.
1960–65
During this period, feels "rich in people and places" and begins to question direction of own work; teaching becomes catalyst to examine work further. Already actively protesting war in Vietnam, uses part of a year's leave from teaching to reexamine his pottery. "My pottery had begun as comments on what I saw in the history of ceramics, and it became comments on what I see through experience, an internal response."
1961
Solo exhibition in art festival at Wallingford Art Center, Pa.
1962
Awarded Silver Medal at Third International Congress of Contemporary Ceramics, Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Juror, "Young Americans," Museum of Contemporary Crafts, NYC.
1963
Solo exhibition at Cortland State College, N.Y.
Serves as technical expert and designer in Ilobosco, El Salvador, under State Department's Agency for International Development, where he meets Sam Maloof and his wife Alfreda ("Freda"), also program consultants in El Salvador.
Juror, Tiffany Fellowships, N.Y. Excited by "first real contact with West Coast artists." Noted Jerry Rothman's work and awarded prize to Jim Melchert for Leg Pot I.

1965–66
On leave from Alfred faculty, concentrates on studio work.
Travels to New Mexico with Sam and Alfreda Maloof, who had taught in pueblos; visits native sites and churches.
Travels to California, meets West Coast artists Jim Melchert, John Mason, Jun Kaneko, Henry Takemoto, Jerry Rothman, and Peter Voulkos in their studios.
1966
Awarded prize for stoneware storage jar at the 24th Ceramic National Exhibition, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y.
Participates in first Supermud Conference at Pennsylvania State University. Demonstrates with Peter Voulkos, Rudy Autio, Don Reitz.
1968
Exhibits stoneware jar at 29th Ceramic National Exhibition, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y.
1969–72
Exhibits in "Objects: USA," which debuts at National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (travels internationally).
1969–74
Teaches summer sessions at Penland School of Crafts, N.C., which he recalls as "a truly water-shed time," in part due to interaction with dancer/teacher Carolyn Bilderback.
Returns to teaching at Alfred University.
1970
Solo exhibition at Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pa.
Exhibits five pots in "Ceramics '70 plus Woven Forms," Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y.
1970–73
As member of Fine Arts Visiting Committee reviews program of Rhode Island School of Design, 1970, 1971.
As member of Visiting Committee makes recommendations on the studio program of the Fine Arts Department of Swarthmore College, 1973.
1971–72
During sabbatical leave, travels to Africa with Sue, hoping to discover culture beyond Europe and Orient. Primarily visits Nigeria and Ghana, focusing on animism, myth, and beliefs carried by sculpture. Starts private library on African culture, reading Chinua Achebe, Warren M. Robbins, M. Ulli Beier, Peter Sarpong, and Herbert M. Cole.
1972
With Jeff Schlanger and Peter Voulkos, invited to be juror at Ceramic National Exhibition, which resumes its quarter-century history after a year's hiatus. When three meet at Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y., they reject all the entries. "I felt the absence of the power of strong conviction to match the depth of the Vietnam despair, at least in what the slides presented to us. It was sad. The decision was royally condemned at the time."
During visit to Southwest, develops passionate interest in Mimbres pottery. Turner struck by ability of potters to incorporate cosmic sense of their culture in eight-inch bowl. Early pueblo attitudes reinforce animism seen in Africa.
Elected titular member of the Academie Internationale de la Ceramique. (International Academy of Ceramics/IAC), Geneva, Switzerland.
1972
Travels to New Mexico, visiting Canyon de Chelly, Acoma, and Taos. Notes that landscape surfaces record time and human activity; this recognition informs his future works.
Solo exhibition at Wallingford Art Center, Pa.
1973
Receives Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, Alfred University, State University of New York.
Solo exhibition at Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Canada.

1973–74
Begins Ashanti forms, adopting name of Nigerian culture group for this series.
Makes a brief visit to Athens, Crete, and Samos with son Rob.
1976
Participates in 10th Supermud Conference at Pennsylvania State University, working again with Voulkos, Autio, and Reitz.
"Soup Tureens 1976," invitational and juried group exhibition in honor of the United States Bicentennial, Campbell Museum, Camden, N.J.
"Masters in Ceramic Art," group exhibition at Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y.
"Works in Clay," group exhibition at Art Gallery, University of Akron, Oh.
"Approaches to Function. Three artists: Anne Currier, John Glick and Robert Turner," Gallery of American Ceramics, Evanston, Ill.
"Masterworks—Autio, Reitz, Turner, Voulkos," Pennsylvania State University, Pa.
"Alfred Faculty in Clay," SUNY College at Plattsburg, N.Y.
1977
Solo exhibition at Greenwich House Pottery, NYC.
Solo exhibition at Yaw Gallery, Birmingham, Ala.
"The Ceramic Vessel as Metaphor," group exhibition at Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Ill.
Invitational Show—Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, Conn.
Elected Fellow of American Craft Council, NYC.

1978
Exhibits functional work and Dome, in solo exhibition at Florence Duhl Gallery, NYC.
Group exhibition at Potato Gallery, Sun Valley Center, Idaho.
Joins Exhibit A Gallery, Evanston, Ill., which relocates to Chicago.
Joins Board of Managers, Oakwood School, a Quaker school, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Elected Honorary Member of the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts.
Acquires home in Santa Fe, N. Mex.
Begins to divide time between Alfred, N.Y, and Santa Fe, N. Mex.
1978–79
"DeVore, Duckworth, Turner, Voulkos," Exhibit A, Chicago, Ill.
"Language of Clay—10 Artists," group exhibition at Burchfield Center, Buffalo, N.Y.
1979
Continues to draw on fertile experience of 1972 trip to Africa; develops Oshogbo, Ife, and Akan forms.
Exhibits Circle-Square in "A Century of Ceramics in the United States 1878–1978," group exhibition at Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y. (traveled).
Retires as Professor Emeritus, Department of Art and Design, New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University.
1980s
Joins faculty at Anderson Ranch Center, Aspen, Co., summer workshops. Meets Ron Nagle, who is on faculty at same time, along with Paul Soldner, Ken Price, and Jim Dine.
1980
Retrospective solo exhibition at Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Alfred University, N.Y. Exhibits pieces from Ife, Akan, and Oshogbo series for first time.
Exhibits in "Robert L. Pfannebecker Collection: A Selection of Contemporary American Crafts," Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, Pa.
First solo exhibition at Helen Drutt Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa.
1981
Joins Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Me. Chairman of the Board of Directors, 1985–86.
Solo exhibition at Okun-Thomas Gallery, St. Louis, Mo.
"American Porcelain: New Expressions in an Ancient Art," Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (travels throughout United States and Asia).
"Contemporary Ceramics: A Response to Wedgwood," Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pa. Exhibits White Ife.
"Centering on Contemporary Clay," The Joan Mannheimer Collection, Museum of Art, University of Iowa, Iowa City. Exhibits Akan.
Solo exhibition at Exhibit A, Chicago, Ill.
1983
Solo exhibition at University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wis.
Solo exhibition at Dorry Gates Gallery, Kansas City, Mo.
"Ceramic Echoes," Nelson-Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Mo.
"Who's Afraid of American Pottery?," Dienst Beeldende Kunst, Museum Het Kruithuis, The Netherlands. Participating artists include Christina Bertoni, William Daley, Richard DeVore, Robert Forman, Andrea Gill, Graham Marks, RandyII Miseph, Ron Nagle, Betty Woodman.
1984

Travels to Hawaii. Visits Haleakala, a volcanic crater. Presents lectures and workshops on Oahu and Maui.
"Modern Master Ceramics," Milwaukee Art Museum, Wis., featured with artists Picasso, Vlaminck, DeVore, Duckworth, Mason, Voulkos.
"Directions in Contemporary American Ceramics," Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass. Participating artists include Laura Andreson, Robert Arneson, Rudy Autio, Walter Darby Bannard, Anthony Caro, Stephen DeStaebler, Friedel Dzubas, Viola Frey, Wayne Higby, Margie Hughto, Jun Kaneko, Richard Shaw, Rudolf Staffel, Betty Woodman.
"A Passionate Vision: Contemporary Ceramics from the Daniel Jacobs Collection," DeCordova and Dana Museum, Lincoln, Mass.
1985
Solo exhibition at Exhibit A, Chicago, Ill.
"Robert Turner: A Potter's Retrospective," Milwaukee Art Museum, Wis. Organized by Gerald Nordland. Show traveled to Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, Ill.; Arizona State University Museum of Art, Tempe, Ariz.
"Dillingham, Turner, Wood, Woodman," University Art Gallery, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
"American Clay Artists: Philadelphia 1985," The Clay Studio, Port of History Museum, Philadelphia, Pa.
"Pottery Questions II," Bacardi Art Gallery, Miami, Fla. Broward Community College, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"Surface, Function and Shape: Selections from the Earl Millard Collection," University Art Gallery, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Ill.
1986
Solo exhibition at Helen Drutt Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa.
"Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical," American Craft Museum, New York, N.Y. (traveled).
"Contemporary Crafts: A Concept in Flux," Society for Arts and Crafts, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Crafts Showroom, NYC.
"Contemporary Arts: An Expanding View," Monmouth Museum of New Jersey, and Squibb Gallery, Princeton, N.J. Exhibits Akan.
"Architecture of the Vessel," Bevier Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, N.Y. Exhibits large Canyon de Chelly.
1987
"The Ritual Vessel," Twining Gallery, NYC.
Garth Clark Gallery, NYC. Exhibits with Karen Karnes.
Dorothy Weiss Gallery, San Francisco, Calif.
Receives Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Swarthmore College.
1989
Solo exhibition at Helen Drutt Gallery, NYC.
1990
Solo exhibition at Bellas Artes Gallery, Santa Fe, N. Mex.
Solo exhibition at Earlham College, Richmond, Ind.
Hill Gallery, Birmingham, Mich. Exhibits with DeVore and Price.
Group exhibition at Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, Mo.
1991
Solo exhibition at Dorothy Weiss Gallery, San Francisco, Calif.
Group exhibition at Kanazawa Culture Hall Gallery, Kanazawa City, Japan.
1992
Solo exhibition at Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Fine Arts, Utah State University, Logan, Ut.
1993
Two-person exhibition, Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, Ariz.
"Beyond Tradition—Ceramic Art in New Mexico," Santa Fe Fine Art Museum. Turner, one of five artists included; exhibits ten works.
"Local Clay Samples," Tower Fine Arts Gallery, SIJNY College, Brockport, N.Y. Exhibits Canyon I.
"Clay 1993: A National Survey," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, Wash.
Awarded Gold Medal, American Craft Council; ceremony held in Chicago, Ill.
"American Craft Council Gold Medal Recipients 1975–1993," Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wis.
1994
Solo exhibition at Okun Gallery, Santa Fe, N. Mex.
Commemorative Exhibition (group exhibit), The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, Pa.
Solo exhibition at Revolution: A Gallery Project (now known as Revolution Gallery), Ferndale, Detroit, Mich.
Participates with Tony Hepburn and Jim Melchert in Symposium: "Chance, Intuition, and Improvisation," May 1, 1994, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
1996
Solo exhibition at Helen Drutt Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa.
1997
Solo exhibition at Revolution: A Gallery Project, Ferndale, Mich.
"White," group exhibition at Center Galleries, Center for Creative Studies, College of Art and Design, Detroit, Mich.

1998
"NCECA Honors and Fellows Exhibition," Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, Tex. Exhibits Owerri III.
1999
Moves with Sue to Sandy Spring, Md.
Retrospective exhibition at Helen Drutt: Philadelphia.
Solo exhibition at Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, Ariz.
"Clay Traditions: Texas Educators and Their Teachers," Dallas Museum of Art, Tex. Exhibits Canyon III.
"Contemporary Clay: Master Teachers/Master Students," The Fine Art Center Galleries, Bowling Green State University, Oh.
"Choice From America: Modern American Ceramics," Organized by Museum Het Kruithuis, held at Den Hague, The Netherlands. Exhibits Shoreline, High Square, Oshogbo, and Akan V.
Works exhibited at SOFA New York by Helen Drutt: Philadelphia, Pa.

2000
Solo exhibition at Revolution Gallery (name changed), Ferndale, Mich.
"Color and Fire: Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950–2000," Los Angeles County Museum of Art (traveled). Exhibits White Ife.
"Regis Masters Series," Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
2001
Solo exhibition at Newark Academy, Livingston, N.J.; delivers lecture.
"Crafts at the Turn of the Millennium: Selections from Helen Drutt: Philadelphia," Monmouth Museum of Art, Lincroft, N.J. Exhibits Canyon de Chelly.
"Poetics of Clay, an International Perspective," Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pa.; Museum of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland. Exhibits Niger and Canyon de Chelly.
2002
Solo exhibition at Helen Drutt: Philadelphia, Pa.
Solo Exhibition: "Robert Turner: 2002 Heilman Artist, Selected Works," List Gallery, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa. Delivers Heilman Lecture.
"Contemporary American Ceramics, 1950–1990: A Survey of American Objects and Vessels," Aichi Prefectural Museum in Nagoya and Museum of Contemporary Art in Kyoto (traveled).
"Crafting a Legacy: Selections from the Contemporary American Crafts Collection," Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pa. Exhibits Covered Jar (1995), Covered Jar (1964–65).
Works exhibited at SOFA Chicago by Helen Drutt: Philadelphia, Pa.
"Ceramic Masterworks: 1962–2002," Modern Gallery, Philadelphia, in cooperation with Helen Drutt: Philadelphia.