Edwin Scheier

Edwin Scheier joined the New York State Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937 as an instructor of crafts and puppetry; later that year he became a field supervisor with the Works Progress Administration, establishing crafts education programs with local art galleries and schools. On a work trip, he visited the Big Stone Gap Art Center in Virginia, whose director, Mary Goldsmith, he had met previously in New York City. The two married in 1937 and soon after left their jobs and traveled around the country, earning a living by performing puppet shows. After a year, the couple moved to Tennessee, where Edwin became the director of a local art center. At night, they experimented with throwing and firing ceramics in the center's industrial kiln. The Scheiers established their first ceramics studio in Glade Spring, Virginia, a town that was the source of "excellent local red clay." Soon after, Edwin accepted a teaching position at the University of New Hampshire, while Mary became the school's artist-in-residence. After Edwin retired, the couple moved to Mexico for ten years before finally settling in Arizona. (Komanecky, American Potters: Mary and Edwin Scheier, 1993)