The Alfred University School of Art & Design announces the appointment of Matthew Wilhelm as the new Robert Turner Teaching Fellow.
The Turner Teaching Fellow was established in honor of Robert Chapman Turner, distinguished Professor Emeritus at Alfred University. Each fellow, selected by the Division of Ceramic Art, is invited to be in residence for a three-year term within the School of Art & Design, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Wilhelm will begin his residence in August and teach two courses each semester.
Wilhelm is a Formalist Potter currently working in Bloomington, IN. He earned his M.F.A. from Indiana University Bloomington in 2026 and received his B.F.A. in ceramics and art history from the University of Wisconsin River Falls in 2019. Using earthenware and terra sigillata, his work focuses on the formal attributes of the vessel’s innate condition of delineating space. His influences range from the forms of the ancient Yayoi peoples to the modernist movement of Minimalism.
Wilhelm was a former artist-in-residence at Cobb Mountain Arts and Ecology Project, where he fired at least one wood kiln a month. His work has been exhibited nationally and has been a featured artist at the Northern Clay Center. He has worked in educational spaces for over a decade, working with students ranging from kindergarten through the university level.
"I am elated to get the opportunity to work at such a historically influential institution in ceramics,” Wilhelm commented. “Beyond the gift it will be to make around other such dedicated artists, is the privilege to be a part of a team who are educating the future of the ceramics field.”
