​Master of clay, Louie Albertson

By Jacinta Zens

I recently sat down for a chat with ceramicist Louie Albertson, Clay and Studio Program Manager at the Plains Art Museum. Before the interview, I had the pleasure of getting to know him a bit as a colleague when I was a Teaching Artist at the Plains Art Museum, and from working in their Community Studio.

What I found through these experiences is that Louie is incredibly knowledgeable, helpful, and has an interesting and varied background. So much so that I wanted to get to know him more and ask him some pointed questions to understand the totality of his background. This interview is an excerpt of our conversation.

HPR: Let’s start at the beginning. You came from California to the area.

Louie Anderson: Yeah, the San Francisco Bay Area. I grew up in the suburbs there.

HPR: How did you get started in ceramics?

LA: I got started in high school. At that point, I really struggled with the wheel and was terrible at it until literally the last week of the semester. I finally made a cylinder. And then school was pretty much over.

From there, I spent three years at community college, got all my undergrad work out of the way, and earned an AFA, an Associate of Fine Arts. In my last semester of college at community college, I was asked to do a wood fire with Scott Parity, who was the head of Sacramento State at the time.

I spent my whole spring break camping at the back of my truck, stoking wood, firing the kiln, helping people prep work and cooking. This crystallized the idea of community within the ceramics, because everyone had a job to do and each job was equally important. The person splitting wood is as important as the person making the pots because without wood, we don't have fuel to stoke the kiln and fire the pots.

HPR: Where did you go from there?

LA: I wanted to go to a school that explored wood fire much more, so I ended up going to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. They have an amazing wood fire program! They have a literal acre of land and seven to 10 wood-fired kilns there. And it was an incredible experience to fire so many kilns in so many different ways.

I got to meet a lot of people there who shared my ideas about wood-fired kilns and how important they are to each of us. Through the process, everyone comes together to ensure the firing works. So, that experience reinforced the idea I have of the community within ceramics.

After my undergrad, I spent the summer in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, which is southwest of Madison. It is literally the middle of nowhere. I packed up my truck and headed to Wisconsin. I road tripped from Flagstaff to Wisconsin and I spent the three months there just living in the cornfield. There I met Stephen Hill, a ceramic artist of note.

I was able to keep researching wood firing and different kiln types, as well as different firings, and also just kind of travel the country for ceramics, which is something I've always wanted to do.

HPR: And from there?

LA: I ended up getting my MFA from UND. My thesis was about how ideas come back to you. I was looking at old slides of work from when I first started to the work that I'm making now. And it was like, not much has changed, other than skill and how I want things made, and that intentionality behind it.

At UND, I began to immerse people within my work by creating furniture. Not only will you interact with the pots and cups I make, but you will also interact with the ceramic furniture. You're going to take the pot or cup from the ceramic furniture, so it is a completely immersive experience.

HPR: Is this when you started working at the Plains Art Museum?

LA: I started working for the Plains a few months before I graduated with my master's.

HPR: What is your favorite part of the job?

LA: That’s hard to say. I like it all. But, if I have to have an answer, I would say there are two things I think are awesome, and they both have to do with community.

I love the people at the Community Clay Studio. There are so many talented people there, and it has been great getting to know everyone. People are all really nice.

The second thing is that I love teaching classes outside of the museum. I get to meet people who may not have access to working with clay and it is super fun to see them enjoy themselves. The beer stein class I teach at Swing Barrel is always great. Everyone has fun, and it is a good time.