Peter Powning

Peter Powning was born in 1949, in Providence, Rhode Island. He grew up in Bristol, Connecticut, and attended the University of Connecticut, where his studies included ceramics, welding, photography, sculpture, and the history of homesteading. In 1970, he and his wife, the writer Beth Powning, moved to rural Markhamville, New Brunswick, where he built his first and subsequent studios.

Arched Lunarium, 1996

In 1976, Powning enrolled at the Croydon College of Design and Technology in London, where he studied techniques including mould making, slip casting, and photo silk screening. This sojourn abroad expanded his sense of what a career in ceramics could include, and upon his return, he continued to experiment with new techniques and materials. With the aid of an early Canada Council grant, Powning also produced a body of work incorporating recordings of voice and sound, which was displayed in a solo exhibition at the Université de Moncton and later appeared at the National Sound Symposium in Newfoundland.

In the early 1980s, new initiatives included bronze casting, and by 1989 he had built a foundry for casting bronze, and casting glass. Creating sculpture was becoming increasingly appealing; throughout the 1980s, Powning participated in the One of a Kind show in Toronto, expanding his reputation and developing relationships with galleries. During this decade, he began working extensively with the American raku technique. Rachel Gottlieb says, “Powning perfected what would become one of his signature works: glossy, white crackle raku contrasted with bands of colourful glazes often distinguished with a single graphic panel.” [3] In 1989, aided by a grant from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Powning built his own glasswork facility, bronze foundry, metal shop, and studio gallery. The 1980s also saw the beginning of Powning's participation in public art competitions, which to date has resulted in 17 public commissions in four provinces. By the 1990s, Powning's work expanded to include cast bronze, steel, slumped and cast glass, and clay.

In addition to an increased focus on public sculpture commissions, Powning's more recent work has included experiments with breaking and reassembling of porcelain—a variation of the Japanese kintsugi technique—and images of altered books (in the ocean, baked, terra-formed). A touring 50-year retrospective was mounted by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery curated by John Leroux. It toured five institutions during 2022 and 2023 in New Brunswick, Ontario, and Maine. In conjunction with the exhibition, the book Peter Powning – A Retrospective was published by Goose Lane Editions, edited by John Leroux.

Running parallel to Peter Powning's life of constant artistic production and experimentation has been his activities in promoting the arts and artists in his region. Soon after his arrival in Canada in 1970, he began building a network of associations with local artists and craftspeople. He attended his first New Brunswick Craftsmen's Council meeting in the fall of 1972. In 1981, he presented a brief to the Canada Council for the Arts that outlined the challenges of creative production in rural and regional Canada. In 1983–1984, Powning and fellow artist John Hooper lobbied a local developer to include public art in the large new Market Square development in Saint John, leading to Powning being hired as a consultant and the commissioning of numerous works, including his own first such commission, Strata 1. Following the closing of the Jabberwok Gallery in 1984, which itself had served as a hub and gathering place for the local arts community, he was a founding member of the cooperatives In Form Gallery and the Alliance Craft Gallery, both located in Market Square. In February 1986, the New Brunswick Arts Council and the Conseil de promotion et diffusion de la culture, of which Powning was a member, presented a brief to Premier Richard Hatfield calling for the creation of a Premier's Advisory Committee on the Arts. In December 1989, Powning was appointed to a three-year term as a member of the newly created New Brunswick Arts Board. He has served on the Advisory Council of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design (2011–2017), was a member of the Governor General's Bronfman Award jury for 2009, and was from 2008 to 2012 a founding board member and vice president of ArtsLink (Arts Association of New Brunswick). He recently served as a founding director and board president (2015–2021) of AX (Arts and Culture Centre of Sussex).

• LGA, Lieutenant Governor's Award for High Achievement in the Arts, 2017.
• Honorary Doctorate, UNB, D.Litt. October, 2014
• 2006 Saidye Bronfman Award (the Bronfman Award became Governor General's Bronfman Award in 2007).
• Canada Council Award, 2000
• Atlantic Canada Design Award, 1999
• Honourary Fellowship, NB College of Craft and Design, 1998
• Certificate of Recognition, NB Arts Board for contribution to the arts, 1997
• Strathbutler Award. Excellence in the arts, 1993
• Deichmann Award for Excellence in Craft, 1991
• Barbara Enser Purchase Award, Fireworks, Ontario Clay and Glass Asc., Ottawa 1990
• International Ceramics Competition, Mino Japan, Bronze Award, 1989
• Premier's Prize, NBCC Bienale, 1988
• Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, Award of Excellence, 1986
• CCC Professional Development Award, 1985
• The Betty and Issac Hamburger Sculpture Award, Academy of the Arts, Baltimore Maryland, 1987
• New York International Art Competition, 1986 and 1987, Certificate of excellence.
• Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, Award of Excellence, 1986
• CCC Professional Development Award, 1985
• Ruth McKinley Award for Ceramics, The Maker's Eye, Harbourfront, 1985
• Excellence in Crafts Award, One of a Kind, The Canadian Craft Show, 1984