RUSSELLVILLE — Winston Taylor, a clay potter from Russellville, was named 2011 Arkansas Living Treasure by the Arkansas Arts Council. Taylor will be honored at a reception from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Arkansas River Valley Arts Center, a nonprofit community arts organization in Russellville. The reception is sponsored by the Arkansas Arts Council and the Department of Arkansas Heritage.
Now in its 10th year, the Arkansas Living Treasure recognizes an Arkansan who excels in the creation of a traditional craft and who actively preserves and advances his or her craft through community outreach and educating others. A distinguished panel of practicing craft artists and Arkansas Arts Council board members selects the recipient based on the quality of work, community outreach and total contribution to the field of traditional crafts.
Born and raised in Little Rock, Taylor and his family moved to Russellville in 1990, where he has since worked as a pottery instructor at the Arkansas River Valley Arts Center. Taylor organized the center’s first pottery program and assembled a working studio at the center, which makes use of purchased and donated pottery wheels and kilns.
Taylor studied ceramics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock while participating in a work-study program led by artist Warren Kessler. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art (with an emphasis in ceramics) from UALR, Taylor worked as a studio assistant to the late Rosemary Fisher at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, where he also taught beginning and adult pottery classes.
The 62-year-old said he never imagined he would make his living as an artist.
“I was always interested in cars throughout high school. I thought I would be a mechanic or race-car driver or aircraft mechanic,” he said. “I never took an art course until I was out of high school.”
Taylor, who owned a body shop in Little Rock for nine years, said his work is heavily influenced by his mechanical background.
“My pottery pieces are geometrical, mechanical looking and industrial — very minimal,” he said.
Though he didn’t take an interest in pottery until college, Taylor said he was always interested in drawing.
“My teacher used to tell my parents I was talented, but that I would draw instead of doing my math,” he said.
In addition to teaching pottery classes, Taylor frequently gives pottery demonstrations at area high schools. In 1993, with the help of an Arkansas Arts Council grant, he initiated a nine-lesson art-class series for fourth-graders in six Russellville elementary schools.
He also donates his work to his church, including an 8-foot round relief sculpture of Christ teaching at Galilee that resides in the sanctuary.
“I used 1,200 pounds of clay to build that sculpture. I worked on it for two days a week for four months,” Taylor said.
Currently, he is working on another sculpture he plans to donate to the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church. The sculpture will be auctioned off at the annual conference in June, with proceeds benefiting a program that builds water wells to provide safe, clean drinking water for the people in Congo.
Taylor said that while he doesn’t think of himself as a “living treasure,” he considers being selected for the designation a terrific honor.
“I’ve been blessed with the support from this community,” he said. “I feel responsible now to continue to share as much knowledge as I can with the community.”
Taylor’s work can be seen at the Boswell-Mourot art gallery in Little Rock, at Gallery Central Fine Arts in Hot Springs and at The Frame Shop in Russellville.
The 2011 Arkansas Living Treasure selection committee included Sheila Richmond of Natchitoches, La., a folk life consultant, folklorist and preservationist; Ed Clifford of Bentonville, an Arkansas Arts Council board member; Michael Tidwell of Little Rock, an Arkansas Arts Council board member; Jerry Fisk of Nashville, Ark., a bladesmith and 1999 Arkansas Living Treasure recipient; John Rule of Minco, Okla., a master saddle maker; and Debra Bunting, heritage arts manager for the Nebraska Arts Council, who described Taylor’s work as “impressive artistry, respect for a Native American tradition without trying to mimic it. He makes a complicated technique look very simple.”