Abe Cohn, Master of Earth and Fire... by Stephen Kastner
For over fifty years Abe Cohn's hands have worked clay from a shapeless mass into an artistic expression of form and function. He also works quietly as a mentor, training countless apprentices.   Working with his loving and devoted wife Ginka, they have been greatly responsible for the establishment of a strong and cooperative Potter's Guild in Door County. Their joint effort, the Potters Wheel Gallery in Fish Creek now presents not only Abe's work, but that of over 40 noted potters, carefully reviewed and selected by Abe and Ginka Cohn. Looking back with them to their first summer here in 1956, one finds Door County a very different place. In 1953 Abe established a studio in Milwaukee and was teaching over 50 students per week. It was through teaching that he met and married his favorite student. Ginka explains, "I had the car and he was a starving artist… On our first date we saw and heard Stravinsky conducting his own music at the Pabst Theater." Karen Lindsey, another student and a Peninsula resident urged Abe to come to Door County. But, concerns were voiced in those days over whether "Door County" would accept the Cohns - not based on the quality of Abe's pottery but because they were one of the first Jewish families to "open the Door". Abe and Ginka made a careful assessment. Together they decided to gamble on Abe's future as the first potter in Door County, with a studio in downtown Fish Creek.   But, the landlord would not let Abe work with clay inside the house... So, he built a simple shelter and threw pots outdoors. To this day, people are fascinated to watch him at work. Both time and Door County have treated Abe Cohn very well. At over 75 years of age he remains an agile and active man working nimbly, spinning clay into the forms he envisions. His studio and gallery have become expansive and full of wonders. He and Ginka invite you to visit with them at the Potter's Wheel, 3915 Gibraltar Road, Fish Creek.		Abe Cohn originally began his study of fine arts at the UW Madison as a painter. He decided to take a "simple" clay course for an easy three credits. In so doing, he met professor, author and nationally recognized potter F. Carlton Ball who influenced the direction Abe would take for the rest of his life. When Carlton Ball left Madison after Abe's first year working with him, Abe moved to California. There he enrolled at Kentfield Jr. College because of their open studio policy - students could work as much as they wanted in the ceramics lab. Abe would often spend 60 hours a week working with clay and glazes. After a year out west he returned to Milwaukee. It was 1953. Abe opened a basement pottery studio while working in the Layton Art school supply store. Layton promised him a teaching position which never came to pass. So, Abe began teaching in his own studio. Soon he had over 50 students a week. Ginka Vogel was one of them in the Fall of 1953, and they were married in Spring of 1954. In 1956 they opened the first potter's studio in Door County which has come to be known as the Potter's Wheel. 1958 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award; 1960 Tile facade for Milwaukee office building; 1961 Purchase Award by Smithsonian Institute at Seventh Annual Exhibition of Ceramic Art, Washington D.C.; 1964 First one-man show by a craftsman at new Memorial Art Center, Milwaukee; 1985 Exhibit of neriage porcelain at Charles Allis Art Library, Milwaukee. Abe Cohn is a founding member of the Door County Potters Guild and in 1996 he was given an honorary Door County Masters membership by the Door County Art League.