McKinnell | The Marks Project

About

Biography

Nancy Darrell is known as a studio potter who produced porcelain functional wares including dinnerware. Work is decorated with simplified landscapes produced using brushed on underglaze and finished with clear over glaze.

After a 39-year career working in clay, in 2010, Darrell went on to devote her full attention to relief printing.

Apprenticeships & Residencies

Primary Work Experience

1941

1945

US Navy Active Duty

1947

1950

Locke Insulator, Baltimore, Maryland

1951

Teaching, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

Surveyor, US Geological Survey, various locations

1952

Engineer, Boeing, Seattle, Washington

1970

1987

Teaching, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

1987

2005

Studio artist, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Other

Public Collections

American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California

Archie Bray Foundation; Ceramics Collection, Helena, Montana

Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona

Brunnier Art Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

CU Art Museum, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado

Everson Art Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York

History of Colorado Center, Decorative Arts Collection, Denver, Colorado

Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver, Colorado

Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, Minnesota

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

Bibliography

Heller, Dulcey. “Remembering Nan Bangs McKinnell.” American Craft Council, Aug. 24, 2012.

Oral history interview with Nan McKinnell, 2005 June 12-13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Paglia, Michael. “Firing Line; a Salute to the Late, Great James McKinnell, a Master of Colorado Ceramics.” Westword (April 28 2005)

CV or Resume

Beul, Jasmine

Website(s)

Tags (related topics)

American Museum of Ceramic Art

The American Ceramic Society

Center for Craft

Archie Bray

Voulkos

University of Washington

Colorado State University

Leach

Brunnier Art Museum

CU Art Museum, University of Colorado at Boulder

Everson Museum

Kirkland

Minnesota Museum of American Art

Citation: Beul, Jasmine James (Jim) McKinnell, "The Marks Project."
Last modified April 29, 2026. https://www.themarksproject.org/artists/james-jim-mckinnell

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