Diana Pancioli

https://www.dianapancioli.com/biography.php

https://obits.mlive.com/us/obituaries/annarbor/name/diana-pancioli-obituary?id=60296540

Diana was a lifelong creative force who viewed her work as part of a 20,000-year human history of making objects from clay. She was a graduate of Redford High School and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts, cum laude, from Wayne State University in 1970. She later earned her Master of Fine Arts from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred in 1989.

A celebrated ceramic artist, Diana left an indelible mark on the art world and the landscape of Detroit. She had a deep connection to Pewabic Pottery, where she achieved a major chemical breakthrough by reinventing the iridescent luster glaze created by founder Mary Stratton using non-toxic chemistry. From 1979-1982, she taught in the Craft and Design Department at St. Clair College (Thames Campus) in Ontario, Canada, and then co-managed Pewabic's production department. Her artistic legacy stands tall in the city, where she designed and supervised several public installations. These include the beautiful 'ARC' mural at Detroit Receiving Hospital, the striking arches of the 'In Honor of M.C. Stratton' mural at the Detroit People Mover's Cadillac Station, and the 65-foot 'PASSAGE' mural at the Compuware Headquarters. Her work also graces Henry Ford Hospital and the Karmanos Cancer Institute.

Diana's work was not limited to public murals; she was a master of utility and form. She often spoke of the "endless delight" of creating within the boundaries of functional ware, yet she also explored the abstract. Her "black period" wall sculptures, glazed in deep black, were inspired by her early love of charcoal drawing-a testament to her belief that clay requires a "multiplicity of skills: technical, physical, intellectual, and aesthetic." In 1999, she shared this expertise with the world in her book, Extruded Ceramics.

Diana was as passionate about teaching as she was about clay. She served as a Professor of Ceramic Arts at Eastern Michigan University from 1991 until her retirement in 2018. Believing that art should be accessible to everyone, she developed her famous "Big Pots" course. Using ancient Jomon and Chinese pottery as inspiration, she taught non-art majors to build massive vessels using extruded clay, allowing thousands of students to feel the joy of connecting with ceramic history.