Dean Schwarz | Also Known As: Dean Schwarz
Dean Schwarz is best known for thrown stoneware traditional forms that are finished with carved and slip glazed surfaces. He also worked in porcelain.
Schwarz spent three summers with Marguerite Wildenhain at ...
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Typical Marks
About
- Biography
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Dean Schwarz is best known for thrown stoneware traditional forms that are finished with carved and slip glazed surfaces. He also worked in porcelain.
Schwarz spent three summers with Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm; during the third season, he was her assistant. This time lead to their friendship and respect for each other’s work that continued until her death. He also studied with William Daley at Haystack.
In 1979 Schwarz founded South Bear Press with his wife Geraldine and published a number of books in the pottery field including two definitive Wildenhain/Pond Farm volumes.
Beginning in 2007, Schwarz's sons, Gunnar and Lane, took over throwing the pots that their father then decorated when leather hard. The pieces created in this way range from large often 40” tall to mini's under 5”.1
Schwarz built and fired over 100 kilns.
1 Parker, Melody. “Schwarz & Sons: Family, clay complete ‘joy of life’ for Dean Schwarz.” The Courier, January 28, 2017.
- Apprenticeships & Residencies
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-1971
Fulbright-Hays Research Fellowship, South Korea
- Primary Work Experience
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1960's
US Navy
1964-1986Faculty, Art Department, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa
-1970Founded South Bear School, Highlandville, Iowa
Other
- Public Collections
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Brunnier Art Musuem, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Burg Giebichenstein, Halle, Germany
Charles H. MacNider Art Museum, Mason City, Iowa
Luther College Fine Arts Collection, Decorah, Iowa
Museum of Art and Culture, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Pottery Museum, Mikawachi, Japan
University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England
- Bibliography
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Jepsen, Kristine Kopperud. “’Red Barns and White Clouds Are Not Always Stereotypes’.” Inspire Driftless Magazine, Positive News from the Driftless Region,http://iloveinspired.com/people/red-barns-white-clouds-always-stereotypes, Posted October 20, 2014.
Parker, Melody. “Schwarz & Sons: Family, clay complete ‘joy of life’ for Dean Schwarz.” The Courier, January 28, 2017.
Schwarz, Dean and Geraldine. Centering Bauhaus Clay: A Potter’s Perspective. Decorah, IA: South Bear Press, 2009.
Schwarz, Dean and Geraldine. Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bauhaus. Decorah, IA: South Bear Press, 2007.
Zug, John. “Dean Schwarz: The Summertime Potter of South Bear Creek School.” Bond (June 1973).
- CV or Resume
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Clark, Donald
- Website(s)
Citation: Clark, Donald Dean Schwarz, "The Marks Project."
Last modified April 29, 2026. https://www.themarksproject.org/artists/dean-l-schwarz
