Reid Ozaki
In Memorium
Reid Ozaki
1951 - 2024
Beloved Tacoma potter Reid Ozaki, who passed away in July, brought Japanese, Hawaiian and Northwest influences to the wheel. (Still from ‘Art by Northwest’)
ArtSEA: Seattle gains an arts incubator and loses a clay champion
The ceramics community mourns the passing of celebrated studio potter Reid Ozaki.
"A mournful ripple ran through the Puget Sound arts community this past week with the news that longtime Tacoma studio potter Reid Ozaki died suddenly on July 25. He was 73.
Born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii, Ozaki moved to the Northwest and enrolled at the University of Puget Sound in 1969. While completing his degree in biology, he took a pottery class and was instantly hooked. There began a 50-year career in the art form, including many years as a teacher in the Tacoma Community College art department.
“Some of my earliest memories are of swimming around in the tide pools near Hilo, HI, and playing under the tree ferns near Hawaii Volcanoes National Park,” Ozaki wrote on his website. His love of nature was powerful and fully present in his ceramic vessels, as seen in the ginkgo leaves, pressed shell indentations, organic shapes and hues he incorporated..." — Brangien Davis for Cascade PBS.
