Jim Chaney
I first met Jeff Kleckner in the late 1970’s when I began my tenure track ceramics position at Kutztown University, the alma mater of both David Shaner and Don Reitz, situated in a small Pennsylvania Dutch village. Initially, Jeff shared a studio with his mentor, regional potter Bill Clark. Over time, Jeff secured his own studio/apartment complex, an old plumbing contracting business building in Bethlehem. From time to time we would share a beer, sample a regional restaurant, and talk ceramics. While I became increasingly involved in the demands of an academic position, Jeff committed himself to full time studio production, moving up from regional street fairs to the major annual competitive craft venues such as ACC Baltimore and the Philadelphia Museum, his signature work appearing in Ceramics Monthly Magazine and now sold around the country in name galleries. His only studio work break was teaching as an adjunct at Northhampton Community College. I was very pleased to be able to secure his skills for a semester as my sabbatical replacement at KU.
I recall asking Takumi Sato, now sadly deceased, whom I met during a summer residency in Japan in 1997, what his personal position was relative to the significant, influential Japanese tradition. His response sums up Jeff Kleckner’s philosophy and his work. “I respect it. My personal task is to extend it.” Jeff did that with flair as succinctly recorded not in verbal journals but in his studio ceramic work.
Jim Chaney
December 5, 2020
I first met Jeff Kleckner in the late 1970’s when I began my tenure track ceramics position at Kutztown University, the alma mater of both David Shaner and Don Reitz, situated in a small Pennsylvania Dutch village. Initially, Jeff shared a studio with his mentor, regional potter Bill Clark. Over time, Jeff secured his own studio/apartment complex, an old plumbing contracting business building in Bethlehem. From time to time we would share a beer, sample a regional restaurant, and talk ceramics. While I became increasingly involved in the demands of an academic position, Jeff committed himself to full time studio production, moving up from regional street fairs to the major annual competitive craft venues such as ACC Baltimore and the Philadelphia Museum, his signature work appearing in Ceramics Monthly Magazine and now sold around the country in name galleries. His only studio work break was teaching as an adjunct at Northhampton Community College. I was very pleased to be able to secure his skills for a semester as my sabbatical replacement at KU.
I recall asking Takumi Sato, now sadly deceased, whom I met during a summer residency in Japan in 1997, what his personal position was relative to the significant, influential Japanese tradition. His response sums up Jeff Kleckner’s philosophy and his work. “I respect it. My personal task is to extend it.” Jeff did that with flair as succinctly recorded not in verbal journals but in his studio ceramic work.
Jim Chaney
December 5, 2020