Abstract
It is difficult to write about the late Mary Caroline (“M.C.”) Richards without seeminghopelessly nostalgic. Richards (1916-1999) wrote, sculpted, and taught in a variety of educa-tional settings, including K-12 education, universities, and community workshopsfor learnersacross the lifespan. Judging from recent audiences of Black Mountain College Museum con-ferences, Richards has been enduringly admired by art students, artists, poets, and educatorsalike. Her participation at Black Mountain College (a short-lived artistic laboratory for thearts from 1933–1957) represented her departure from the traditional university system and in-cludes experiences as a teacher, student, poet, and potter. Black Mountain catalyzed her work toward a philosophy of creativity and living. Her legacy in clay and words powerfully con-nect pottery and poetry with practices of the studio, the classroom, the home, and the naturalworld.