Welcome to the Saint John's Pottery online gallery, featuring a selection of work by Richard Bresnahan and artists of the Pottery.
All proceeds benefit the Saint John's Pottery, artists and programs.
NEWS
SEPTEMBER 2025
Panelists for “The Transpacific Connection: Ceramic Influences between Japan and the United States” are:
Jun Kaneko, artist
Suzuki Goro, artist
Richard Bresnahan, artist
Ree Kaneko, arts administrator and curator
This Zoom talk, moderated by Joan Mirviss, focuses on insights from renowned senior ceramic artists and educators whose artistic careers have been shaped by time spent in both Japan and the United States. Panelists reflect on the role that each of these environments have played in fostering their remarkable artistic careers.
OCTOBER 2024
The 17th firing of the Johanna Kiln took place October 11–20, 2024.
Minnesota Public Radio—“10 days, 10,000 objects and one very large kiln” (October 21, 2024).
Project Optimist— “Saint John's Pottery forges community” (October 22, 2024).
The Saint Cloud Times—“St. John's Pottery begins the 17th firing of the Johanna Kiln” (October 17, 2024).
CSB/SJU Newsroom—“17th firing of the Johanna Kiln at The Saint John’s Pottery starts Friday” (October 7, 2024)
The Chronicle of Higher Education—“Blending the work of head and hand” (January 8, 2025)
APRIL 2024
“Richard Bresnahan Navigates an ‘Eco-Mutual’ Future,” an article published on April 15, 2024, by The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., authored by Paul Schmelzer. An excerpt:
“Coming out of the Depression, can you imagine how happy my great aunts and uncles and my grandparents were when they were able to buy their first grain bin? It only held 1,500 bushels, but they had control over their seeds for the first time.”
“Drive the prairies of North Dakota today,” Bresnahan says. “The farmhouses are gone, the barns are gone. But you see the sentinels, those grain bins, those last remaining joys of farming families that are gone.” During his apprenticeship in Kyushu, he found a way of living that resonated with his North Dakota childhood: communal, resourceful, hyperlocal, and sensitive to the earth.
Shop by Artist
Founder and director of the Saint John’s Pottery, for more than 40 years Richard Bresnahan has served as artist-in-residence of Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict.
Daniel Smith ———
Studio manager since 2022, Daniel Smith joined the Saint John’s Pottery in 2018 as an apprentice.
Carter Slette ———
Senior apprentice Carter Slette joined the Saint John’s Pottery in 2024.
Allison Breen ———
Allison Breen was an apprentice at the Saint John’s Pottery from 2024–2025.
Luke Kiefer ———
A potter from western Pennsylvania, Luke Kiefer was an apprentice at the Saint John’s Pottery from 2021–2023.
At the front fire-mouth, during the lighting ceremony for the 16th firing of the Johanna Kiln, October 7, 2022. This photograph, and cover photograph, by Nate Jorgensen.
One of the stoke holes of the first chamber of the Johanna Kiln. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.
Firing crew, first weekend of the firing, at the front firemouth. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.
Firing charts, first weekend. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.
Wood piles after the firing has moved in to the Tanegashima chamber. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.
Richard Bresnahan removing a cup from a stoke hole in the Tanegashima chamber, as a draw test. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.
The draw test cup, after being dunked in water. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.
Stoking the Tanegashima chamber. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.
Stoking the Tanegashima chamber. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.
Closing a stoke hole after stoking the Tanegashima chamber. Photograph by Nate Jorgensen.