Homage to Ancestry and Clay

Karen Koblitz is a Los Angeles-based artist and Associate Professor Emerita from University of Southern California’s Roski School of Art & Design. Over her long and illustrious career, Karen's ceramic works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and around the world. She has works in the permanent collections of several museums, including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Check out Orvieto Red Rooster Lunette on the Renwick Gallery site and, on the LACMA site, see these two works: a decorative ceramic plate and Still Life with Pitcher and Hedge Apple. In this wide-ranging interview recorded in early spring 2022, Karen talks about her beginnings as an artist, as well as her love for both working in clay and for teaching; her Czech family roots, including family members lost in the Holocaust; her involvement in the restoration of a Czech synagogue in the Southern Bohemian town of Pacov, where her great-great-grandparents were married in 1860; a documentary about that restoration project; her participation, in 2002, in Art in Embassies, a U.S. Department of State program (see her profile on the Art in Embassies website); and her recently discovered passion for knitting. There are two additional pieces of information of note:Around the 23-minute mark, Karen talks about a book, The White Road, which chronicles the history of porcelain. The name of the author is Edmund de Waal.Toward the end of the episode, around 49:30, Karen talks about the Czech Torah scrolls. The Westminster Synagogue in London oversees the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust.Hope you enjoy the episode with this amazing artist. To hear specific topics, please check out the chapters.This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to The Gale Hill Radio Hour! The show is available in Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast directories. Also on Substack and YouTube;  Facebook, Instagram  and LinkedIn.