Paula Winokur

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Paula Colton Winokur
Born
Paula Colton

May 1935
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedFebruary 4, 2018 (age 82)
Alma materTyler School of Art
Known forceramics

Paula Colton Winokur (May 1935 – February 4, 2018) was an American artist. She was one of the leading ceramic artists in the United States from the 1970s until her death in 2018.

Early life and education

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Paula Colton was born and raised in Philadelphia.[1][2] She graduated from Tyler School of Art,[3] where she was a student of Rudolf Staffel, and where she met her future husband.[4]

Career

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Winokur is best known for the work she made during the 1990s through the 2010s, "subtle, sophisticated, and sometimes gargantuan" porcelains[5] that often had an environmental focus.[6] "My feeling is I want to make this work and bring it into the gallery and have people say, 'oh yeah, I should think about that.' That's my hope" she said in 2014.[7]

In 2004, critic David C. Farmer described her show in Honolulu as "a memory of dreamscapes brimming with pulsating, organic energies", and compared one work "Segments Erraticus" (1999) to dinosaur vertebrae and "an elongated geode".[8] "Winokur's stark white pieces – some wall-mounted and others set on the floor – evoke the stark beautiful landscapes of the southwestern United States, and, for contrast, Alaskan glaciers," wrote critic Edward Sozanski in 2006, adding that the works "evoke an evolutionary history" and "address the current concerns of global warming and environmental spoliation".[9]

Winokur established the ceramics department and taught ceramic art at Arcadia University (formally known as Beaver College), in Glenside, Pennsylvania from the 1970s until the 2000s.[2] She won an NEA Craftsman's Fellowship in 1976.[5] In 2002 she was elected to the College of Fellows at the American Craft Council.[10] She was Arcadia's Professor of the Year in 2003.[2]

Personal life

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Colton married fellow ceramic artist and teacher Robert Winokur. They lived in Denton, Texas, in the 1960s,[11] and had two sons.[3] She died in 2018, at the age of 82.[2][12]

Collections

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Exhibitions

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References

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  1. ^ "Winokur, Paula (American sculptor, born 1935)". Union List of Artist Names. The J. Paul Getty Trust.
  2. ^ a b c d Salisbury, Stephen (2018-02-09). "Paula Winokur, ceramic artist and Arcadia teacher". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. B06. Archived from the original on 2025-06-20. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c Henry, Meredith M. (1984-11-12). "They've molded art and marriage into a lifestyle". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 98. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Robert Winokur". American Craft Council. Archived from the original on 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  5. ^ a b Bruno, Susan (1980-03-02). "Her Life Has Gone to Pots". Daily Press. p. 77. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Rothstein, Scott (2020-05-26). "Paula Winokur: Formative Landscapes". Sculpture. Archived from the original on 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  7. ^ Bauers, Sandy (2014-04-16). "Using art works to address climate change". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. A03. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b Farmer, David C. (2004-12-19). "Re-creating landscapes in ceramics". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. p. 72. Archived from the original on 2025-06-20. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Sozanski, Edward J. (2006-11-12). "Art: Celebrating the poetry of precelain". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. H07. Archived from the original on 2025-06-20. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Paula Winokur". American Craft Council. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  11. ^ Porter, Bob (1961-04-09). "The Art of Pottery; Couple Combines Hobby into Professional Line". Denton Record-Chronicle. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2025-06-20. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Paula Winokur: A Tribute". The Clay Studio. Archived from the original on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  13. ^ "Paula Winokur". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Archived from the original on 2021-09-23. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  14. ^ "Collections". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  15. ^ "Ceramics exhibit moving to Andrews". The Virginia Gazette. 1980-02-06. p. 10. Archived from the original on 2025-06-20. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  16. ^ "Paula Winokur: Quiet Immensity". Philadelphia Art Alliance Blog. 2015-10-22. Archived from the original on 2023-03-05. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  17. ^ Hine, Thomas (2015-09-10). "Fall Arts Guide: October art museum picks". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2023-03-05. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  18. ^ "The Clay Studio revisits history of Philadelphia ceramics by way of four seminal artists". Knight Foundation. Archived from the original on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  19. ^ "Celebrating masters old and new". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2015-09-13. pp. H10. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Images inspired by Greenland's icebergs focus of today's talk". Morning Sentinel. 2017-07-07. pp. B5. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.