Frederick Carlton Ball (April 2, 1911 – June 5, 1992) was an American multidisciplinary artist, author, and educator, who worked as a potter, painter, and jeweler. Ball was the first ceramicist to make large-scale thrown pots in California starting around 1935. He taught at the California College of Arts and Crafts, Mills College, Southern Illinois University, the University of Puget Sound, and the University of Wisconsin. He was elected to the

American Craft Council The American Craft Council (ACC) is a national non-profit organization that champions craft based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb, the council hosts national craft shows and conferences, publishes a quarterly m ...

College of Fellows in 1983

Early life and education

Frederick Carlton Ball was born in April 2, 1911 in

Sutter Creek Sutter Creek (formerly spelled Sutter's Creek and Suttercreek; formerly named Suttersville) is a city in Amador County, California, United States. The population was 2,646 at the 2020 census, up from 2,501 at the 2010 census. It is accessible v ...

, California. Ball attended

Sacramento Junior College Sacramento City College (SCC) is a public community college in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community a ...

(now Sacramento City College), before transferring to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC). At USC, he studied painting (specifically focused on

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s) and ceramics; and graduated with a B.A. degree (1932), and a M.A. degree (1934). He took classes with ceramicist

Glen Lukens Glen William Lukens (1887–1967) was an American ceramicist, glassmaker, and jewelry designer born in Missouri. He is best known for his innovative work with glazes and his contributions to modernist jewelry. Lukens helped pave the way for ceram ...

Career

Ball had worked in ceramics design collaboration with painters, including his third wife Kathryn Uhl Ball, and with

Aaron Bohrod Aaron Bohrod (21 November 1907 – 3 April 1992) was an American artist best known for his trompe-l'œil still-life paintings. Education Bohrod was born in Chicago in 1907, the son of an emigree Bessarabian-Jewish grocer. Bohrod studied at ...

. In the 1930s and 1940s, Ball created large thrown pots, and he gave technical help to other potters. Ball taught pottery and jewelry design at the

California College of Arts and Crafts The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a Private university, private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened ...

(now California College of the Arts; from 1935 to 1938);

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

(now Mills College at Northeastern University); the

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

; the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

; and the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. He also taught design courses at Sacramento Evening High School, and at

Tacoma Community College Tacoma Community College (TCC) is a public community college in Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle ...

. He was an early contributor to ''

Ceramics Monthly The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is a nonprofit organization of professionals for the ceramics community, with a focus on scientific research, emerging technologies, and applications in which ceramic materials are an element. ACerS is located ...

'' magazine, and wrote more than 140 technical articles. Ball died on June 5, 1992 in Tacoma, Washington. His work can be found in public museum collections including at the

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

, the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, and the

Oakland Museum of California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, F. Carlton 1911 births 1992 deaths People from Amador County, California 20th-century American ceramists American potters American jewelry designers University of Southern California alumni Sacramento City College alumni California College of the Arts faculty Mills College faculty Southern Illinois University faculty University of Puget Sound faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty