Campbell Paxton collection of Edris Eckhardt and Mary Wawrytko

Cleveland artist Edris Eckhardt is best known for her work with ceramics, glass, and bronze. Born in 1905, she studied at the Cleveland School of Art (CSA), now the Cleveland Institute of Art, graduating in 1931. It was around this time that Eckhardt, whose given name was Edythe, began using the gender-neutral name Edris after she was overlooked for an award.

Eckhardt was employed at Cowan Pottery before opening her own ceramic studio. By 1934 she had joined the faculty at CSA. During the Great Depression, she created works for the WPA Federal Arts Project and from 1935-1941 served as the director for the Ceramics and Sculpture Section.

In addition to her work at CSA and the WPA, Eckhardt regularly exhibited in CMA’s May Show. She created Alice in Wonderland sculptures for the World’s Fair in 1937, a set of which was purchased by Princess Elizabeth for the royal collection. She also created a Huckleberry Finn sculpture for Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939.

By the 1950s Eckhardt was regarded for her glasswork when she rediscovered an ancient Egyptian technique of fusing gold leaf between sheets of glass to create gold glass. She was subsequently awarded two Guggenheim fellowships and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Fellowship. In 1971, Eckhardt was recognized with a Special Citation for Distinguished Service to the Arts by the Cleveland Arts Prize for her pioneering work in glass sculpture. Edris Eckhardt passed away in 1998. Her work is part of the permanent collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Corning Museum of Glass.

Mary Wawrytko was an accomplished artist who specialized in bronze casting and copper enameling and attended the Cleveland Institute of Art. She had numerous exhibitions throughout Ohio at the Toledo and Cleveland Zoos, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Episcopal Church in Huron, and the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.