Jean Ames

Jean Goodwin Ames was a mosaic mural artist who worked with various media including tapestries and ceramic tiles. Together with her husband, Arthur Ames, Jean completed several murals composed of glazed tile, glass mosaic and enamel.

The Ames met in an evening ceramics class taught by Glen Lukens. They married in 1940 and collaborated on a number of Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) projects, commissions for Sheets Studio and other corporate and private commissions.

For over thirty years, Jean taught at the Claremont Graduate School and Scripps College. The Ames donated their collection of post-war ceramics to Scripps College.

The Jean and Arthur Ames Scrapbook Collection, originally titled “Art in Collaboration – Ceramic Tile Decoration, Enamel, Mosaic, Tapestry, Painting and Drawing,” is available at the Ella Strong Denison Library, Claremont Colleges Library in Claremont, California. A finding aid is available at http://pdf.oac.cdlib.org/pdf/cuc/den/d19xx_2ames.pdf.

An interview with Arthur and Jean Goodwin Ames conducted June 9, 1965 for the Archives of American Art’s New Deal and the Arts project is available at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-arthur-and-jean-goodwin-ames-12923.