Martha longenecker biography

Martha Longenecker Papers, 1916-2013 (MSS 784)

Martha Williams Longenecker was born on May 18, 1920 in Oklahoma City. She earned her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and her M.F.A. from Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California, where she studied painting with the artist Millard Sheets. In 1952, while attending a week-long graduate seminar, Martha met and was profoundly influenced by Dr. Yanagi Soetsu, founder of the mingei ("art of the people") folk arts movement in Japan. She decided to devote her life to art which had a practical use. Longenecker went on to do post-graduate study of ceramics in Japan under Shoji Hamada and Tatsuzo Shimaoka and became an accomplished ceramics artist.

Longenecker was an art professor at San Diego State University from 1955-1990. With support from her late husband, Sydney Martin Roth, she founded Mingei International, a non-profit public foundation for furthering understanding of arts of the people. She also served as director of the Mingei International Museum of World Folk Art in San Diego from 1978-2005. While a

Martha Longenecker

American artist (1920–2013)

Martha Longenecker

Martha Longenecker

Born(1920-05-18)May 18, 1920

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.

DiedOctober 29, 2013(2013-10-29) (aged 93)

La Jolla, San Diego, California, U.S.

NationalityAmerican
Other namesMartha Williams Longenecker, Martha W. Longenecker, Martha W. Longenecker-Roth
Alma materUCLA, Claremont Graduate School
Occupation(s)Artist in Pottery (Mingei), Art Educator, Art Collector, Museum director
Spouse(s)John Longenecker, Sydney Martin Roth
Children2
AwardsOrder of the Rising Sun (Japan)

Martha Longenecker (May 18, 1920 – October 29, 2013) was an American artist, Professor of art, and founder of the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, California.[1]

Early life

On May 18, 1920, Longenecker was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At 9 month old, Longenecker arrived in California by train. Longenecker grew up in Monterey Park, California, and Pasadena, California.[2][3][4]

Educa

Martha W. Longenecker

11th Woman Living Legacy Award
Daring to be Different

Professor Martha W. Longenecker's career in art is a many faceted design related to being an artist/craftsman, educator, and Founder/Director of MINGEI INTERNATIONAL Museum of World Folk Art, dedicated to furthering the understanding of art of the people from all cultures of the world.

An international doll collection given to her at the age of five initiated Martha's awareness of the world. Traveling began at the early age of nine months when she came with her family by train from her birthplace in Oklahoma City to live in California. These early recollections were a precursor of Martha's later worldwide travel/study and collecting of ceramics and related art.

Drawing, painting, and making things came naturally as a child, and there was never a question that her career would be in the arts! Martha received a BA in Art with a minor in English from the University of California at Los Angeles. In order to study painting with Millard Sheets, who had a profound influence on her life, she attended C

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