Jim Melchert

Melchert helped elevate ceramics into mainstream contemporary art by challenging the medium's traditions of expression, form, and function and was often described as "the great philosopher of the post-war craft movement." He was connected with the California Clay Movement (or American Clay Revolution) that came out of California in the 1950s. Melchert's teacher, and later colleague, Peter Voulkos was central to this school of ceramic art which was part of a larger transition in crafts from "designer-craftsman" to "artist-craftsman."

Jim Melchert studied at European Ceramics Work Center. The field of work recorded is ceramic art. Work by Jim Melchert is recorded in the collections of Art Institute of Chicago, Vanderbilt Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Smithsonian American Art Museum. Distinctions recorded are Fellow of the American Craft Council.

• Name — Jim Melchert • Birth Name — James Frederick Melchert • Born — 2 December 1930 • Birthplace — New Bremen, Ohio, U.S. • Died — 1 June 2023 • Place of death — Oakland, California, U.S. • Field — Ceramics, fine art • Training — Princeton University, University of Chicago, University of California, Berkeley • Spouse — Mary Ann Hostetler • Children — 3 • Movement — Funk art

James Frederick Melchert was born on December 2, 1930, in New Breman, Ohio. His parents were Hulda Egli and Rev. John Carl Melchert, and he had two older brothers. He graduated in 1948 from Mansfield High School in Mansfield, Ohio. After earning an AB in art history from Princeton University in 1952, he moved to Japan where he taught English for four years after he declared himself a conscientious objector to the Korean War. Upon returning to the United States, he earned postgraduate degrees in painting at the University of Chicago (1957), and studied ceramics under Peter Voulkos at the University of California, Berkeley (1961).

Throughout his career, Melchert worked with many media, including painting, drawing, performance art, film, and most notably sculpture and ceramics. His unique process involves breaking down, drawing on, and reassembling ceramic tiles before painting the new constructions with glaze. His "near-legendary performance" Changes in which he and nine Dutch artists immersed their heads in clay slip and sat upright on a bench until it dried was performed in Amsterdam in 1972. The film of the performance is in museum collections including Stedelijk Museum and BAMPFA. He taught at San Francisco Art Institute from 1961 to 1965; and the University of California, Berkeley from 1965 to 1992. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha was one of his notable students at UC Berkeley. From 1977 until 1981, Melchert served as the director of Visual Arts Program for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). From 1984 until 1988, he was the director of the American Academy in Rome. During his term in Rome, many notable artists were in residence, including Ana Mendieta, Alex Katz, Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, and Judy Pfaff.

Melchert died at his Oakland, California, home on June 1, 2023, at the age of 92, of complications from a stroke he suffered in April. He had three children.

Jim Melchert is recorded as having received Fellow of the American Craft Council. Recognition and collections. Melchert received Fellow of the American Craft Council.

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam • Los Angeles County Museum of Art