Pond Farm Pottery Docent

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Marguerite Wildenhain was the first woman to receive the designation as Master Potter in pre-World War II Europe. She was the first female master at the Weimar Bauhaus, working with Walter Gropius. A French Jew, Marguerite left Germany in the late 1930s and eventually accepted an invitation from Gordon and Jane Herr to help create a 140-acre experimental art colony in Guerneville. Although the art colony did not survive, Marguerite purchased the land and buildings at Pond Farm and retained a life estate in the property after DPR’s acquisition of the 5700 acre site which became Austin Creek SRA.

Over a 30-year period Marguerite produced work now recognized as masterpieces. Each summer she led a 6-week intensive, highly disciplined ceramics summer school for promising ceramic artists. Many of the over 300 Pond Farm students became leaders in 20 thcentury ceramic arts.

To read more about this historic site and its current projects, go to pondfarm.org. Become a volunteer with this program and learn all about historic preservation, cultural resource management, and the life of Marguerite and her students!

In addition to serving in beautiful Western Sonoma County, volunteers who submit:

• Volunteer 24 hours or more to receive an annual free Day Use Pass for all State Parks in the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast District
• Volunteer 200 hours or more to receive an annual free Day Use Pass for all California State Parks