Large ceramic sculpture by Sally Michener, 1980s

This large scale ceramic sculpture by Sally Michener is both whimsical and striking. Hand formed totem with human faces. This piece stands 64.5” tall with a 6” diameter and 20” wide at its widest point. 

Michener was born in Minnesota. She graduated with a BA from Hamline University in 1957, then initially pursued a master’s degree in social work at Columbia University. It was during her time at Columbia that she changed course and began studying ceramics with Warren MacKenzie at the University of Minnesota. She completed a Master of Arts degree in 1973 at the University of Cincinnati, moving to Canada that same year to teach ceramics at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design). Her career there would span 25 years.  

Beginning in 1970, Michener had 17 solo exhibitions and approximately 100 group exhibitions, spanning a more than 50-year career. Her art is in public collections primarily in Canada, but also the United States, China, Japan and Mexico.  

She was one of the founders of the North-West Ceramics Foundation in 1993 and served on its board until 2015. She was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1996, and in 2007, was one of ten Canadians participating in a month-long residency for an international ceramic museum in Fuping, China. Sally Michener died in 2023