The ceramic artist Laura Andreson (1902–1999) is credited with reviving pottery in America, and yet her process was drastically different from that of her peers and protégés. Unlike most, she started with the glaze and let that inspire the shape of the vessel. Born in San Bernardino, California, Andreson studied education at UCLA before obtaining an MFA in painting at Columbia University. At 19, she became bedridden with tuberculosis. The illness taught her patience, a quality she maintained through a long career. “I can have a whole kiln of pots come out that are just ruined because of the weather, or something happened to the kiln, and it doesn’t bother me at all,” Andreson said. “It may knock me down for four or five hours, but then I bounce right back.” In 1934, she returned to UCLA to form the university’s ceramics department—one of the first in the country—and through 1970, she taught thousands of students, including JB Blunk, ushering in the medium’s rebirth. Andreson’s vessels are often simple, but their proportions are ineffable. Strangely, this seminal mentor and educator has not received a dedicated exhibition since 1982. Craft in America’s retrospective, the first on Andreson in Los Angeles, places 40 of her creations beside those of her students and peers. —Maggie Turner