Bill Persick has been a member of the Mountain Regional Arts and Crafts Guild since
2008 and his pottery has been a mainstay at ArtWorks since that time. He is known especially
for his sculpted bears and lately for the many unique plates and platters he has been making.
Bill grew up as an orphan in Boys Town, Nebraska. During his high school years he
learned ceramics. After spending some time in the Coast Guard he returned to Boys Town to
work in the pottery shop. Under the GI bill he studied ceramic engineering for 2 years at New
York State College of Ceramics and then returned to Lincoln Nebraska to work in a pottery
shop. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska. He taught high school
math and art for 2 years before being offered an assistantship at Ohio State University to work
on his master’s degree. Bill met his wife while studying at Ohio University and later earned his PHD in ceramic
design there. His wife Roberta also earned a PHD in ceramic design and so his home contains an
amazing collection of pottery and blown glass. Bill taught at Eastern Carolina University for 2
years. From there he went back to Ohio State for 3 years and completed work on his PHD. He
then taught for 2 years in North Dakota , then moved to Monroe, Louisiana as chairman of the
art dept. for 6 years. . Bill and his wife, Roberta spent 21 years teaching at Jacksonville
University in Florida till their retirement. While at Jacksonville, Bill developed the glass blowing
program there. They moved to Hiawassee in 2000 to be near grandchildren. Sadly, he lost his
wife in 2006.By the way, Bill is a lively, active 93 year old! He is a member of the Standards
committee at ArtWorks and takes his turn working in the store. And he loves to play cards!
Bill Persick is an inspiration to every artist and crafter at ArtWorks.
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Mountain Regional Arts and Crafts Guild, Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit charitable organization.
Contact us at mracg.artworks@gmail.com