EDUCATION 

1985 Portland State University, urban studies and resource management, OR

1954 Southern Illinois University, ceramics intensive, IL

1954 Washington University School of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture, WA

1952 Cleveland Art Institute, sculpture intensive with Bill McVey, OH

1950 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, ME

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

1995-2006 Coop member, Thurman Street Studios, Portland, OR

1959-1963 Member, Liturgical Arts Guild , Portland, OR. Note: The Guild was a group of professional artists who collaborated on the design and execution of furnishings for church interiors in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

1969 Arts education director, First Immanuel Lutheran Church, Portland, OR

1969 Art instructor, Cathedral School, Portland, OR

1958-1959 Sculpture instructor, Arts and Crafts Society, Portland, OR

1954-1955 Sculpture instructor, People’s Art Center, St. Louis, MO

AWARDS

2001 NW Examiner’s Award of Excellence in Visual Arts

1996 Washington University’s Paris atelier at the Cité International des Arts

1995 Honorable Mention, “Works of Faith,” Portland, Oregon

1959 First and second prize, sculpture and ceramic sculpture, Oregon State Fair

1956 Honorable mention, sculpture, Missouri Show

1956 First prize, Miami National Ceramics Exhibit

1955 Hazel Goetch Award, Washington University

1953 Carolyn Risque Janis Award, Washington University

SELECT EXHIBITIONS

2025 From Afra to Iris: A Journey into the Third Age, solo show, Multnomah Arts Center, Portland, OR

2017 Exploring Women's Cosmology, solo show, Suzanne Jones Studio, Portland, OR

2017 Community& Connections, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Multnomah Arts Center, Portland, OR

2014 Earth Art, solo show, Suzanne Jones Studio, Portland, OR

2013 Window exhibition, Justice Center, Portland, OR

2006 Walters Cultural Arts Center, Hillsboro, OR

2001 Dreaming the Dark, Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery, Portland, OR

1998 Local 14, World Forestry Center, Portland, OR

1998 Oregon Potters Association, Portland Convention Center, Portland, OR

1997 Forty Years in the Mud, retrospective exhibition with Ray Grimm, Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, OR

1997 Stark Raven Mad, Graystone Gallery, Portland, OR

1996 Impressions of Paris, with Ray Grimm, Thurman Street Pottery, Portland, OR

1995 Honoring the Words and Images in Women’s Lives, juried show, Littman Gallery, Portland, OR

1995 White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon

1995 Works of Faith, juried show, First Presbyterian Church, Portland, OR

1994 Black & White, Craft Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, MO

1993 An Oregon Tribute, Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, OR

1993 Salishan Lodge Gallery, with Ray Grimm, Gleneden, OR

1987 Gallery 222, Portland State University, Portland, OR

1965 Bush Barn Gallery, with Ray Grimm, Salem, OR

1959 Oregon Ceramic Studio, with Ray Grimm, Portland, OR, 1959

1959 Art Mart Gallery, with Ray Grimm, St. Louis, MO, 1959

1958 Annual Painting and Sculpture Show, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA

1958 Oregon Annual, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

1958 Northwest Institute of Sculptors, Portland, OR

1958 Northwest Craftsmen’s Show, Seattle, WA

1957 Northwest Craftsmen’s Show, Seattle, WA

1956 Missouri Show, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO

1956 Miami National Ceramics Exhibit and Traveling Show, Miami, FL

1954 Missouri Show, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO

PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

2008 Animal Totem, a carved brick mural measuring 13’ x 40”, Magruder Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

2004 The Tree of Life, a carved brick mural measuring 13’ x 40”, with Ray Grimm, Magruder Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

1998 The Weather Machine, member of four-person design team selected via national competition, Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, OR

1995 Commemorative plaque honoring Jean Black, the first Portland State University librarian; 60” x 40”, Portland State University library, Corvallis, OR

1993 Tamenah, a series of six clay and mosaic plaques, with Ray Grimm, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, OR

1985 Bas-relief brick sculpture, with Ray Grimm, Oregon State University, School of Veterinary Medicine, Corvallis, OR

1970 Brick mosaic measuring 9’ x 60', with Ray Grimm, Mt. Park Recreation Center swimming pool, Lake Oswego, OR

1962 Clay bas-relief plaques, children’s room of the Coos Bay Library, Coos Bay, OR

1959-1965 Numerous commissions of freestanding bas-relief sculptures for churches in the Pacific Northwest

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2006    Ray, Jere & Christa Grimm; Oregon Art Beat, Season 9, Episode 33, Oregon Public Broadcasting

2004    Jere & Ray Grimm, Ceramic Monthly Magazine, March edition

1999    Jere Grimm: Life in Clay, by Karen Foley, The Woman’s Journal, April edition

1979    Ceramics of the Northwest, by LaMar Harrington, U of Washington Press, Seattle, WA

PUBLICATIONS

2020    Legacy of Carolyn Risque Janis, Ceramics Monthly Magazine, October edition