Biography
Soldner, who served as an army medic during World War II, began to pursue a career in art upon returning to the United States. He earned degrees in art education and art administration from Bluffton College and the University of Colorado, then turned his attention to ceramics. He focused first on functional pottery.
In 1954, Soldner became Peter Voulkos' first student in the nascent ceramics department at the Los Angeles County Art Institute (now the Otis College of Art and Design). As Soldner helped his teacher establish the program, he made several changes to the studio pottery equipment, which lead to founding Soldner Pottery Equipment in 1955 to market his inventions.
After receiving his MFA in ceramics in 1956, Soldner began teaching at Scripps College. Soldner's teaching at Scripps emphasized teaching-by-osmosis and a from-scratch approach to ceramic arts, including exploration of firing techniques as well as natural clays, kiln-building and glaze formulation.
Known as the Father of American Raku, Soldner also developed a type of low-temperature salt firing. Along with Voulkos, Soldner has been credited with creating the "California School" of ceramic arts by combining Western materials and technology with Japanese techniques and aesthetics.
While teaching at Scripps College, Soldner organized the Scripps Ceramics Annual - a nationally recognized ceramic exhibition. In addition, as a result of his lifelong friendship with ceramic collectors Fred and Mary Marer, Scripps became the fortunate recipient of the extensive Marer Collection of Contemporary Ceramics. In 1990, Scripps received an NEA Grant to research and organize and exhibition titled, "Paul Soldner:A Retrospective'" that traveled throughout the United States.
Soldner retired from Scripps in 1991.
In the 1960s Soldner helped found Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Colorado. He was also involved in starting the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.
Soldner lived and maintained studios in Aspen, Colorado and Claremont, California.
He died on January 3, 2011 in Claremont, California.
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