Skip to main content
Rudy Autio
Rudy Autio
Rudy Autio

Rudy Autio

born Butte Montana, 1926; died Missoula, Montana, 2007
BiographyBorn in Butte, Montana in 1926, Autio lived in his native state throughout most of his career. He headed the ceramics department at the University of Montana for twenty-eight years and retired as Professor Emeritus of the School of Fine Arts. Prior to his appointment at the University of Montana, Autio was a founding resident artist at the Archie Bray Ceramics Foundation in Helena, Montana.

Autio received a Tiffany Award in Crafts in 1963, the American Ceramic Society Art Award in 1978, and a National Endowment grant in 1980, enabling him to work and lecture at the Arabia Porcelain Factory and the Applied Arts University in Helsinki, Finland. While there, he was elected honorary member of Ornamo, Finland's Designers organization. In 1981 he was the first recipient of the Governor's Award and named outstanding visual artist in the state of Montana.

He was a Fellow of the American Crafts Council, Honorary member of the National Council of Education in the Ceramic Arts, and recipient of the honorary Doctorate of Art from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore. In November 1999 he was awarded the American Craftsman's Gold Medal Award in ceremonies at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C.

While Autio's ceramics are his best known works, he worked in a variety of materials and other media. In addition to commissions in ceramic relief and tile murals, he worked in bronze, concrete, glass, fabricated metal sculpture, and designed colorful Rya tapestries. Most of these were commissioned for public buildings in the Northwest and one is in Finland
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
  • Butte
  • Missoula
Robert Sperry
born Bushnell, Illinois, 1927; died Seattle, Washington, 1998
Howard Kottler
born Cleveland, Ohio, 1930; died Seattle, Washington, 1989
Mike Moran
born Glendive, Montana, 1942; died Olympia, Washington, 2018
Doug Jeck
born Jersey City, New Jersey, 1963; died Seattle, Washington, 2022
John S. Takehara
born Sowan, Korea, 1929; died Boise, Idaho, 2009
Akio Takamori
born Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, 1950; died Seattle, Washington, 2017
Ivarose Bovingdon
born Linville, Virginia, 1904; died Seattle, Washington, 1988
Ken Bova
American, born Houston, Texas, 1953
Ken Shores
born Lebanon, Oregon, 1928; died Portland, Oregon, 2014
Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation; born St. Ignatius Indian Mission, Flathead Reservation, MT 1940