Joseph Bennion

Joseph Wood Bennion (born September 5, 1952) is an American studio potter in Spring City, Utah. He runs Horseshoe Mountain Pottery, making wood-fired and salt-glazed functional stoneware. He received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1990. His work is held by the Springville Museum of Art and the American Museum of Ceramic Art. His pottery and home life were the subject of the 1992 documentary The Potter's Meal. Since 1994 he has also worked as a certified river guide in the Grand Canyon.

Early life and education Bennion was born on September 5, 1952, and grew up in Orem, Utah. He studied ceramics at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he met the painter Lee Udall Bennion.

Pottery Bennion works on a foot-powered treadle wheel. He alters the forms while the clay is wet, using his fingers and simple tools, and fires the pieces in a wood-fired kiln with salt. His work draws on Japanese, British, and American ceramic traditions.

Bennion marks his work with a rectangular "Y" chop impressed into the raw clay.

Bennion wrote a 1986 essay for Ceramics Monthly, "Aesthetic Communion". He intends his functional wares to be used as part of the ceremony of everyday meals.

The 1992 documentary The Potter's Meal, directed by Steve Olpin, documented Bennion's pottery and home life in Spring City. It screened at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival and won the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival. His work is held by the Springville Museum of Art and the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, California.

Personal life Bennion married Lee Udall Bennion while they were students at Brigham Young University.