Paul Soldner
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Paul Soldner (b.1921) is an American ceramic artist who is credited with several important advancements in the field and is viewed by many as one of the most important 20th-century Studio potters. Soldner lives and maintains studios in Colorado and California.
Soldner, who served as an army medic during World War II, began to pursue a career in art upon returning to the United States. He earned degrees in painting from Bluffton College and the University of Colorado, then turned his attention to ceramics. He focused first on functional pottery.
In 1954, Soldner became Peter Voulkos's first student in the nascent ceramics department at the Los Angeles County Art Institute (now the Otis College of Art and Design). As Soldner helped his teacher establish the program, he made several revolutionary advances in pottery equipment, including a type of low-temperature salt firing. In 1955, he founded Soldner Pottery Equipment to market his inventions.
After receiving his MFA in ceramics in 1956, Soldner began teaching at Scripps College. Soldner's teaching at Scripps emphasized a from-scratch approach to ceramic arts, including natural clays, kiln-building and glaze formulation.
Soldner produced a large body of work. He also produced numerous innovations in ceramic equipment and technique, including the American form of Raku. Along with Voulkos, Soldner has been credited with creating the "California School" of ceramic arts by combining Western materials and technology with Japanese techniques and aesthetics.
Soldner founded the Scripps Ceramics Annual, which was for several decades among the most prestigious invitational ceramic arts shows. He was also involved in starting the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.
He retired from Scripps in 1992.
