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'Jack Troy: By the Numbers' Celebrates a Living Legacy in Clay at JCMA
(Posted June 17, 2025)
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HUNTINGDON, Pa.—In 1962, Jack Troy learned to make pottery while teaching English near Swarthmore. Hired as an English teacher by Juniata College in 1967, he began creating ceramic art in an old farmhouse in Big Valley. Today, the 87-year-old artist’s work is proudly displayed worldwide, the arc of Troy’s career spans continents and communities.
A new exhibition, “Jack Troy: By the Numbers,” will open with a reception from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, June 19, at the Juniata College Museum of Art, offering an unprecedented opportunity to see the arc of Troy’s legendary career.
The exhibition features some of Troy’s first forays into pottery, along with works created this month.
Troy, a teacher, potter, and writer, retired from Juniata in 2006 after teaching for almost four decades. He arrived at Juniata in 1967, teaching English and ceramics until 1971, when he taughtg ceramics at Kent State. Troy returned to Juniata and resumed teaching ceramics. His commitment to honing and teaching his craft to others inspired him to build his first anagama (a Japanese term meaning “cave kiln”) at the College in 1978. The distinctive style utilizes a firebox at one end of the overall oblong shape, which slopes upward toward a flue and chimney. Two personal anagama kilns were constructed in 1987 and 2006.
He has led over 260 workshops for potters of all ages in the United States and worldwide, and his career has taken him to 13 countries. His work is in many private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution, Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan, the Auckland Museum of Art in New Zealand, and the Kalamazoo Institute of Art in Michigan.
Troy’s first book, “Salt Glazed Ceramics,” was published in 1977, with “Wood-fired Stoneware and Porcelain” following in 1995. A collection of his poems, “Calling the Planet Home,” was published in 2003 and his second collection, “Giving It Up to the Wind” was published in 2021. More than 100 of his articles, book reviews, and exhibition catalog essays have appeared in the major periodicals in the field.
He was recognized by The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts with two Craft Fellowships for his work in ceramics and a Fellowship in Literature for his poetry. The Council later selected Troy to make the awards for the 2005 Governor’s Awards for the Arts. He was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award from the National Council for Education in Ceramic Arts in 2012 and Juniata’s Beachley Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2005
“Jack Troy: By the Numbers” will be exhibited at JCMA through September 6, 2025. JCMA is free and open to the public from 1-6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday.
Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.