Autio Rudy

Born in Butte, Montana in 1926 of Finnish parents, Rudy Autio is considered one of the most significant and inspirational artists working with clay in the United States today.
Rudy Autio headed the ceramics department at the University of Montana for twenty-eight years. He was also a founding resident artist at the Archie Bray Ceramics Foundation in Helena, Montana.
Autio received a Tiffany Award in Crafts in 1963, the American Ceramic Society Art Award in 1978, and a National Endowment grant in 1980, enabling him to work and lecture at the Arabia Porcelain Factory and the Applied Arts University in Helsinki, Finland.
In 1981 he was the first recipient of the Governor's Award, naming him an outstanding visual artist in the state of Montana.
He is a Fellow of the American Crafts Council, Honorary Member of the National Council of Education in the Ceramic Arts, and in 1999 he was awarded the American Craftsman's Gold Medal Award.
The Autio exhibition will include biographical wall text along with visual or written references to the multitude of influences on his work: WPA drawing classes, Japanese wood block prints, Henry Moore, Henri Matisse, Picasso, Isamu Noguchi.