Robert ArchambeauBissett, Manitoba


Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident 2010

Robert Archambeau was born and grew up in Toledo, Ohio. Following 4 years in the Marines, he attended undergraduate school at Toledo University, the Toledo Museum of Art School and Bowling Green State University (Ohio – BFA). He received his MFA degree from Alfred University in 1964. Robert taught at the Rhode Island School of Design 4 years before accepting a teaching position at The University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, where he headed the ceramic program until his retirement in 1991.A frequent guest artist at colleges and institutions, he has traveled extensively throughout the world. In 2003, he was the recipient of Canada’s highest artistic honor, the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. Robert maintains two studios, one in Bissett, Manitoba and one at the University of Manitoba, where he holds professor emeritus status. Robert has exhibited internationally and his work is in several notable public and private collections.

My aim in creating is not the decoration, or didactic, or clay as entertainment. The work is not political. It is, I hope, in some measure, a distillation of the magic and mystery that surrounds me on this, my part of the Pre-Cambrian Shield and at its best is serene, rich in detail, detached from the mundane, and timeless.