Warren MacKenzie

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A vase by Warren MacKenzie

Warren MacKenzie (February 16, 1924 - ) is a North American craft potter. He grew up in Evanston, Illinois the second oldest of five children including his brothers Fred and Gordon and sisters Marge and Marilyn. His high school days were spent at New Trier High School in Wilmette, IL.

MacKenzie studied with Bernard Leach from 1949 to 1952. His simple, wheel-thrown functional pottery is heavily influenced by the oriental aesthetic of Leach Shoji Hamada as well as Kanjiro Kawai and is attributed with bringing the Japanese Mingei style of pottery to Minnesota, fondly referred to as the Mingeisota style.

MacKenzie has described his goal as the making of "everyday" pots. Accordingly, although his pots are found in major museums and command high prices among collectors, MacKenzie has always kept his prices low and no longer signs his work. For a period during the 1970s, he also did not sign his work. Most of his output is produced in stoneware, although he has worked in porcelain at times during his career.

MacKenzie is well known as a teacher. Since 1952 he has taught at the University of Minnesota, where he is a professor emeritus. His students have included Randy Johnston, Jeff Oestreich, Will Ruggles, Douglass Rankin, Paul Dresang, and Michael Simon.

He lives outside of Stillwater, Minnesota, where he continues to maintain his studio, despite ailing from silicosis. Until December 2006, MacKenzie also housed a showroom on his property. The showroom operated strictly on the "honor system" whereby pots were marked with price stickers and visitors would pay for pots by placing their money in a wicker basket, making change for themselves as appropriate. Unfortunately, due to theft and customers selling his work for an outrageous profit online, MacKenzie closed his showroom, opting instead to sell his pots through the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN.