When Joan Rechtin Lincoln ’49 was a student at Scripps, she called herself a “mudder.” As Harvey Mudd College, directly north of Scripps, was yet to be established, this meant but one thing: Joan loved to get her hands on the messy substances in the College’s ceramic studio.
So it was fitting that right after the College dedicated the new Joan and David Lincoln Ceramic Art Building on April 12, Joan went inside, found a hunk of wet clay, and sat down at a potter’s wheel. In the beautiful new space made possible by a $3.5 million gift from the Lincolns, Joan proudly “threw a pot” as her husband, and impressed students, looked on.
At the dedication earlier, Joan thanked her husband for his support, and remarked that good ideas don’t always turn out the way one wants. But with the new building, she said, “everything fell into line.”
The Lincoln Ceramic Art Building, completed in February 2011, provides a tremendous boost to the College’s ceramics program. “The impact of the Lincolns’ extremely generous gift is going to be enormous,” said Assistant Professor of Art Adam Davis. “The benefits are too numerous to mention; everything in ceramics is about to double—the space, classes, students, and professors.”
Already a working studio, the facility’s numerous wheels, kilns, and benches are well-used. Visitors will find the art created—including classical amphorae and a clay human brain—is as diverse and interesting as the students involved in its creation.
