Born in 1948 in Chicago, Illinois, Richard Notkin is a ceramic artist based in Helena, Montana. Notkin earned a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute (1970) and an MFA from the University of California, Davis (1973) before establishing his full-time studio practice. He has maintained a politically activated approach to creating work throughout his career and often produces pieces that protest war and other forms of violence. Much of Notkin’s art has been inspired by Yixing teapots – functional vessels that served as the ultimate venue for a traditional maker’s expression of technical expertise and conceptual ingenuity. Notkin adapts the form of a teapot to match his subject matter of choice, creating detailed, compact, and highly narrative sculptures that demand close investigation. He has exhibited his work widely and is represented within public collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. He has received fellowships from the Jerry Metcalf Foundation (1999 and 2006) and the National Endowment for the Arts (1979, 1981, and 1988). was elected a fellow of the American Craft Council in 2007.