// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Joe Bennion? Ben-nyone home?
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Joseph Bennion | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph Wood Bennion September 5, 1952 Utah, U.S. |
| Education | Brigham Young University (BFA, 1982; MFA, 1986) |
| Known for | Wood-fired and salt-glazed functional stoneware |
| Spouse | Lee Udall Bennion |
| Awards | National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1990) |
| Website | www |
Joseph Wood Bennion (born September 5, 1952) is an American studio potter in Spring City, Utah. He runs Horseshoe Mountain Pottery, making wood-fired and salt-glazed functional stoneware. He received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1990. His work is held by the Springville Museum of Art and the American Museum of Ceramic Art. His pottery and home life were the subject of the 1992 documentary The Potter's Meal. Since 1994 he has also worked as a certified river guide in the Grand Canyon.
Early life and education
[edit]Bennion was born on September 5, 1952, and grew up in Orem, Utah.[1][2][3] He studied ceramics at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he met the painter Lee Udall Bennion.[2][3] In 1980 he also took classes at the Tuscarora Pottery School in Tuscarora, Nevada. He earned a BFA from BYU in 1982 and an MFA in 1986.[2][3]
In 1976 Bennion and his wife settled in Spring City, Utah, a 19th-century Latter-day Saint settlement in Sanpete County.[3] His studio, Horseshoe Mountain Pottery, is on Main Street.[4] For years he commuted about 140 miles a day to teach ceramics at a college in Provo.[5]
Pottery
[edit]Bennion works on a foot-powered treadle wheel. He alters the forms while the clay is wet, using his fingers and simple tools, and fires the pieces in a wood-fired kiln with salt.[2] Adding salt to the kiln enhances the glaze effects, and the finished wares appear in earth-toned colors.[2] He avoids bright colors and applied decoration, preferring the surfaces produced by the firing itself.[6] His work draws on Japanese, British, and American ceramic traditions.[7]
Bennion marks his work with a rectangular "Y" chop impressed into the raw clay.[2] He made a commission of 100 place settings for Sundance Resort.[4]
Bennion wrote a 1986 essay for Ceramics Monthly, "Aesthetic Communion".[8] He intends his functional wares to be used as part of the ceremony of everyday meals.[7] He has said, "Potting is the closest thing I have to full time employment, but the biggest part of my energy and work goes into the household."[9]
The 1992 documentary The Potter's Meal, directed by Steve Olpin, documented Bennion's pottery and home life in Spring City. It screened at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival and won the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival.[10][9] The potter Warren MacKenzie wrote that the film captured Bennion's "involvement with the act of making, the gesture and rhythm as a major affirmation of life."[9]
Recognition
[edit]In 1990 Bennion received a $5,000 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.[11][12] His work is held by the Springville Museum of Art and the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, California.[13][2] His work was shown at the Salt Lake Art Center in 1984,[1] and in 1988 his functional pottery was the subject of a solo exhibition, Useful Pots, at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit.[14]
Personal life
[edit]Bennion married Lee Udall Bennion while they were students at Brigham Young University.[3] In 1994 he bought a raft and became a certified Grand Canyon river guide; by 2014 he had guided 51 trips.[5] In February 2025 the Salt Lake Tribune and the Sanpete Messenger reported that the couple had sought civil stalking injunctions in response to online harassment involving accusations that they denied.[15][16]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Joseph W. Bennion". University of Utah Marriott Library, Utah Artists Project. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Bennion". The Marks Project. Archived from the original on May 21, 2026. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Benson, Lee (May 8, 2003). "Portrait of an artist's haven". Deseret News. Archived from the original on April 24, 2026. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- 1 2 Fulton, Carol (February 8, 2011). "Lee and Joe Bennion". 15 Bytes (Artists of Utah). Archived from the original on August 11, 2025. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- 1 2 Benson, Lee (April 14, 2014). "About Utah: They painted their own paradise". Deseret News. Archived from the original on April 29, 2026. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- ↑ "American Craft Classics" (PDF). Ceramics Monthly. 39 (9): 45. November 1991. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
- 1 2 "Joe". Joe and Lee Bennion Studios. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
- ↑ Bennion, Joseph (December 1986). "Aesthetic Communion". Ceramics Monthly. 34 (10): 34. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Joe's Studio: The Potter's Meal". Horseshoe Mountain Pottery. Archived from the original on April 26, 2026. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- ↑ "Steve Olpin / The Potter's Meal". Granary Arts. Archived from the original on April 14, 2026. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- ↑ Dowley, Jennifer; Princenthal, Nancy (2001). A Creative Legacy: A History of the National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists' Fellowship Program, 1966–1995. New York: Harry N. Abrams. Index of fellowship recipients.
- ↑ National Endowment for the Arts (1991). Annual Report 1990 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for the Arts. Crafts fellowships. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Joseph Bennion". Springville Museum of Art. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ "Useful Pots" (PDF). Ceramics Monthly. 37 (3): 46–47. March 1989. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
- ↑ Harkins, Paighten; Schreifels, Jessica (February 25, 2025). "This Utah couple is being harassed over old satanic abuse claims. They want the state to clear their names". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on April 23, 2026. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- ↑ "Bennions go to court to fight claims of Satanism, ritualistic sex abuse". Sanpete Messenger. February 21, 2025. Archived from the original on April 7, 2026. Retrieved June 2, 2026.