Neil Grant (New Zealand) ceramics

Neil Grant was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1940 and began working with clay in his early twenties. In 1960 he graduated from the Canterbury University School of Fine Arts with a Diploma in Fine Arts in Sculpture. He then trained as a secondary school teacher, and in 1962 he began teaching art at Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland.

Grant began to exhibit his pottery widely in the early 1960s. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Society of Potters, and he regularly exhibited at the New Vision Gallery in Auckland. In 1965, he travelled to Fiji to teach pottery at the Fiji Teachers' College, where he learned about the island nation's own clay pottery traditions.

In 1971, Grant was appointed to a teaching position at the Dunedin School of Art, and he taught ceramics at the school for over 40 years. He has been more... a mentor to countless New Zealand potters, and he has played a major role in the development of ceramics education in New Zealand.

Grant has exhibited his work extensively throughout New Zealand and internationally. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate in Craft/Object Art in 2002. His work is held in public and private collections around the world. less...