Katherine Choy | Also Known As: Katherine Choy Chou, Katherine Poyu Choy, Choy Pau Yu (Precious Lustrous Gem),Catherine Choy

Katherine Choy?s functional, wheel-thrown stoneware bottles, vases, bowls, and platters are glazed with copper red, celadon, and iron-rich glazes which she developed; these glazes continue to be used at the Clay Art Center. Her work was a fusion of Eastern and Western aesthetics. She also produced hand-made tiles for architectural commissions, and garden furniture. In her later work she explored thrown and altered vessels, decorated with textured surface treatment and colored slips.

At Mills College, Choy studied with F. Carlton Ball and later, Antonio Preito; Bernard Leach held a workshop while she was there. At Cranbrook Academy, Choy studied clay with Maija Grotell. After earning her Master?s degree, she remained as a teaching fellow at Mills; one of her glaze projects at this time involved experimentation with rare pigments sent to her from Asia by her father. While at Mills College, Choy collaborated on a saki set with Jade Snow Wong.

Choy is primarily known today as the founder of The Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York, in 1957; Henry Okamoto became her partner shortly thereafter. With support from patrons in New Orleans, she had purchased the facilities owned by the Good Earth Pottery in Port Chester; her idea was to set up a co-operative studio to encourage young potters in advanced study of ceramic arts; Viola Frey was one of the first working members. The legacy of Katherine Choy continues; the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York thrives today as a nationally recognized, vibrant non-profit clay art center.