Jon P. Keenan

Professor and Chair, Fine and Performing Arts
(603) 526-3667 | jkeenan@colby-sawyer.edu

Joined the Colby-Sawyer College faculty in 1990. Active internationally, he teaches courses in Ceramics, East Asian art history, the Liberal Education and the Honors program. His studio work explores raku and high fired glazed ceramics, along with anagama wood-fired functional and sculptural clay work.

A Fulbright Scholar, Professor Keenan, was named the Joyce J. Kolligian Distinguished Professor of Fine and Performing Arts in October 2009. He is the recipient of awards from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. He has exhibited his work and lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad. | faculty profile | web site

Areas of Expertise

• Studio ceramics
• Ceramic history
• East Asian art history
• Japanese language and culture

Select Exhibitions

• Kosei-in Temple, Two-Person Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, scheduled for fall 2013
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, Pavilion for Japanese Art, Photographic Images of the Tsushima River Festival, winter-spring 2012
• The Fells-John Hay Estate, Art in Nature, Sculpture Exhibition, summer 2011
• Colby-Sawyer College, Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery, Art Faculty Review Exhibitions, annually
• Kosei-in, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, spring-summer 2010
• Colby-Sawyer College, Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery, Alumni, Faculty and Faculty Emeriti Art Exhibition and Auction, fall 2009
• Chi-Lin, “Three in Clay,” Meredith, NH, summer 2009
• John Molloy Gallery, “The Studio Potter Collection,” NY, NY, spring 2009
• Project Sunshine, “Art with a Heart,” Two-Person Show, spring 2009
• McGowan Fine Art, “Unearthed II,” Group Exhibition, spring 2009
• Mudfire Gallery and Art Center, “Asheville in Atlanta,” Invitational Three-Person Exhibition, Decatur, GA, fall 2008
• Barro Sin Plomo, Group Exhibition, Organized by Dartmouth College and Sculpture Fest, Woodstock, VT, summer 2008
• University of North Carolina at Asheville, S. Tucker Cooke Gallery, Faculty Review Art Exhibition, Asheville, NC, fall 2007
• ArtSpace, Group Exhibition – Time Based Animation and Ceramics, Raleigh, NC, fall 2007
• Celadon Gallery, Three-Person Show, Watermill, NY, summer 2007
• Machiya, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, summer 2007
• The Studio Potter Collection Exhibition, Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery, Colby-Sawyer College, Group Exhibition, fall 2006
• The Kimball Jenkins Estate, Two-Person Show, Concord, NH, fall 2006
• Penland School of Crafts Gallery, “Ethos: Craft and Social Conscience”; and Instructor Exhibition, Penland, NC, summer 2006
• Kosei-in, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, fall 2005
• Alliance for Visual Art (AVA), Two-Person Show, Lebanon, NH, fall 2005
• The Fells: John Hay Estate, Two-Person Show, Newbury, NH, summer 2005
• Celadon Gallery, Two-Person Exhibition, Water Mill, NY, summer 2004
• Currier Museum of Art, “Ceramic Artists of New England,” Group Exhibition, summer, 2004
• Kosei-in, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, summer, 2004
• Dartmouth College, Barrows Rotunda, Solo Exhibition, Hanover, N.H., fall 2003
• Gallery Chizu, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, summer 2003
• Tokai Gallery, Three-Person Exhibition, Boston, Mass., summer 2002
• Flickinger Arts Center, Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N.H., fall 2002
• The Galletly Gallery of Art, New Hampton School, 2-Person Show, New Hampton, N.H., winter 2002
• Gallery Chizu, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, fall 2001
• Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery, Colby-Sawyer College, Faculty Review Exhibitions, New London, N.H., Annually, 1990 - Present
• Gallery Konishi, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, summer 2001
• Library Arts Center, Group Exhibition, Newport, N.H., summer 2000
• The River Valley Club, Two-Person Exhibition, Hanover, N.H., summer 2000
• Salve Regina University Gallery of Art, Group Exhibition, Newport, RI. fall 1999
• Gallery Sesshudo, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, May 1999
• New England College, Gallery of Art, “Translations,” 2-Person Exhibition, Henniker, N.H., fall 1998
• Newport Library Arts Center, Group Exhibition, Newport, N.H., summer 1998
• The New Hampshire Institute of Art, “New Hampshire Wood Fired Ceramics,” Manchester, N.H., summer 1997
• Old York Historical Society, “Forms and Function,” York Harbor, Maine, summer 1997
• Edwards Gallery of Art, Holderness School, Two-Person Exhibition, Holderness, N.H, spring 1996
• Gallery Machiya, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, fall 1996
• Peabody Museum, Group Exhibition, Salem, Mass., summer 1995
• Gallery Tsukasa, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, summer 1994
• Colby-Sawyer College, “The Year of American Crafts,” Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery, New London, N.H., winter 1993
• Ten Arrow Gallery, Group Exhibition, Cambridge, Mass., fall 1992
• Manchester Institute for Arts and Sciences, Group Exhibition, Manchester, N.H., November 1990
• Gallery Tsukasa, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, fall 1990
• Planet Blue Gallery of Art, Solo Exhibition, Kobe, Japan, fall 1990
• Harvard East Asian Program, Boston Children's Museum, Solo Exhibition, Boston, Mass., spring 1990
• Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, “Japanese Crafts - New England.” A two-year traveling invitational exhibition to New England Museums: Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Bates College Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, Springfield Museum of Art, 1988-1990
• Ann Winston Gallery, Group Exhibition, New York, N.Y., December 1988
• University of New Hampshire, Art Gallery, League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Juried Exhibition, Durham, N.H., October 1988
• “Living with Crafts Exhibition,” Group Exhibition, Sunapee, N.H., 1988 & 1989
• Currier Gallery of Art, “New Artists - The Gloria Whitcher Invitational,” Manchester, N.H., November 1987
• Gallery 33, Solo Exhibition, Portsmouth, N.H., July 1987
• Art Space Torokugo, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, July 1986
• Tachikichi Invitational, Group Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, April 1986
• Kyoto City Museum of Art, Graduate Student Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, March 1986
• Gallery Beni, Solo Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, November 1985
• Seikado Gallery, Group Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, June 1985
• Takashimaya, Daimaru and Isetan Department Stores, Ceramics displayed with Tsuruya Yoshinobu confectionery, Tokyo, Japan, June 1985
• Gallery Origino, Group Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, April 1985
• Gallery Katou, Three-Person Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, December 1984
• The Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Portsmouth, N.H., September 1983

Recent Activities

• Co-Curator, Gerry Williams: A Life in Clay, Retrospective Exhibition, Mugar Art Gallery, fall 2011
• Colby-Sawyer College Ceramics, Empty Bowls Projects, 2006-present
• Visiting Fulbright Artist-Scholar, Fulbright Specialist Fellowship, Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto, Japan, spring-summer 2009 • Kyoto Cumulus 2008 Conference Presenter, “The Greening Studio: A Model for Creativity, Sustainability and Community,” Kyoto, Japan, spring 2008
• Visiting Research Professor, Department of Art, University of North Carolina Asheville, 2007-2008 (academic year)
• Visiting Professor, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Chemistry; Exotic Materials Institute, 2005-06 (sabbatical year)
• Penland School of Crafts, “Social Justice in Clay,” Penland, NC, Instructor, summer 2006
• Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, Guest Lecturer, summer 2006
• Stanford East Asian Studies Center, Kyoto, Japan, Guest Lecturer, winter 2005-06
• American International School, New Delhi, India, Guest Lecturer, winter 2005-06
• International School Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand, Guest Lecturer, winter 2005-06
• School of Visual Arts, NY, NY, Guest Lecturer, fall 2005 - 2008
• Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH, Guest Lecturer, summer 2004
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY, Guest Lecturer, spring 2004
• Dartmouth College, Ceramics Program, Visiting Artist, winter 2004
• Celadon Gallery, Watermill, NY, Visiting Artist, summer 2004
• Colby-Sawyer College Ceramics, Empty Bowls Projects, 2003-present
• Curator, Selections from the Studio Potter Collection, John Molloy Gallery, NY, NY, spring 2009
• Studio Potter Journal, Board of Directors, fall 2000–2009

Publications

• “Gerry Williams: A Life in Clay, Retrospective Exhibition, “ Catalogue, consulting editor and designer, Mugar Art Gallery, fall 2011
• “Speaking in Clay Sutras: The Ceramics of Vineet Kacker,” Studio Potter Journal, Article: fall 2007 • “Visiting Shigaraki,” Studio Potter Network, fall 2001
• “Perspectives,” National Public Radio, Commemorating the Hibakusha. Simultaneous translation for Mr. Terumi Tanaka, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, 1996
• “The Art and Craft of Raku Ceramics,” New Hampshire Crossroads with host Fritz Weatherbee, New Hampshire Public Television, summer 1993
• Narration, Studio Potter magazine, 1987-1990
• “An American Potter in Japan,” The Keirin Journal, April 1985
• “Visiting Shigaraki,” Studio Potter Network, Autumn 2001
• “The Art and Craft of Raku Ceramics,” New Hampshire Crossroads with host Fritz Weatherbee, New Hampshire Public Television, summer 1993
• Narration, Studio Potter magazine, 1987-1990
• “An American Potter in Japan,” The Keirin Journal, April 1985

Education

• C.A.G.S./M.F.A., Kyoto City University of Fine Arts, Graduate School, 1986
• B.A., University of New Hampshire, 1982