ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Julia Tait Dickenson arrived in Santa Fe in 1985 with a degree in studio arts and ceramics. Here she discovered a passion for jewelry and metal smithing, ultimately opening her own jewelry business Thin Air Studio. In 1995 Julia moved to Vermont where she raised her family and continued her jewelry work. After 25 years, she is back on Canyon Road at El Zaguán. During her 35 years as a maker, Julia’s studio space has evolved to reflect her various creative endeavors: jewelry, ceramics, textiles, printmaking, and now brooms and brushes. She is continually inspired by the history and craftsmanship across cultures. Now as Thin Air Goods, Julia brings beauty and soul into objects intended for everyday use.

Mary Olson became enamored with clay in high school and majored in art at Colorado College. A suggestion that she apply for an internship at the Bemis School of Art at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center led to a full-time position and a rewarding career in arts education. She has especially enjoyed teaming with local museums, visiting artists, and arts organizations with her students. Mary received a Master’s in Experiential Education with a K-12 Art endorsement from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and furthered her studies at the outstanding Santa Fe Clay programs. She co-founded Clay Bodies and Mud-luscious Pottery in Boulder before opening a home studio, from which she hosts many shows. Good fortune brought Mary to the amazing art capital of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is grateful to have taught art at Wood Gormley Elementary School for 17 years where she built a rich arts program incorporating the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) pedagogy. Mary has more time for her studio work now. Whimsical clayworks are the focus of late encounters with grouse, and one particular towhee fascinated by his reflection in the window of her home, inspired her most recent series of birds.