Born in 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, but raised in Los Angeles, Chris Gustin was exposed to ceramics manufacturing as a child through his father’s business and knew early on that he wanted to work in the field. He began undergraduate studies at University of California, Irvine, but dropped out to work in one of his father’s factories. Upon the recommendation of his older brother and sister-in-law, he left the job in 1972 to pursue a BFA in ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute. There, he worked under celebrated ceramic artist and ACC Gold Medalist Ken Ferguson, who encouraged him to continue his studies at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He completed his MFA at Alfred in 1977, and went on to receive a major fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. After 20 years of working at various colleges and universities, including a long tenure at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, Gustin retired from teaching in 1999 to focus on his studio practice and the tile manufacturing company that he now runs with his wife. Known for creating ceramic works that relate functional vessels to the human body, Gustin has had solo exhibitions at galleries and museums around the country, and is represented within many public and private collections, including at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Chris Gustin was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2016.