Turning Point Profile with Frank A. Gosar
Frank A. Gosar molding a ceramic dinner plate on his throwing wheel. His goal for each of his pieces is for them to be both sturdy and functional, yet beautiful and unique.
The warm chuckle of Frank A. Gosar, 60, filled the rectangular room with bright cheer. He stood with his gap-toothed, mustached grin that reached his twinkling eyes framed by circular lenses. He leaned against the long wooden workbench that dominated the length of the room at the back corner of the ceramics studio as he quietly and carefully recounted the series of events that led him to be a full-time ceramics artist. In his own words, his path has been filled with “a weird combination of signposts” that got him to this point in his career.
His love for ceramics began during his junior year of his undergraduate at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Though his interest in the arts was sparked during that time, neither he nor his professor could say that he possessed a natural gift. However, practice helped him perfect his craft, and after graduation, he became a commercial artist while also substitute teaching for an art history class. Unfortunately, the Spring of 1985 left him without a job or a direction to go. Rather than scrambling to make ends meet with odd jobs, he decided to take this as a sign to lean into his passion of ceramics art. He took a chance on applying to multiple graduate schools, and landed on the University of Oregon. Gosar, like many of those who relocated to the Pacific Northwest, set out in search of a new start and a new identity. “You’re probably going to hit this part in your life fairly soon, if you haven’t already, where people know you so well that you can’t try anything new because they don’t expect it of you,” Gosar said. “So, I decided that as long as I was going to be out of my job and going to graduate school, I should go someplace where nobody knew me.” After making the leap to move to Oregon, he acquired a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the UO, taught for ten years at the UO Craft Center, and worked a production line for a local potter, before finally selling his own collection of works through his business Off Center Ceramics at the Saturday Market.
As for the future, both Frank and his wife Denise, who helps him with running their booth at the Saturday Market, are comfortable with the business at its present size and are confident in the direction it is headed. “We both continue to be surprised that we have made it to 26 years,” Denise said. “It’s something he’s chosen — we have chosen — and we do our best to live happily within the means we are given.”
