Documentary Description

A half-hour documentary, Marguerite: From the Bauhaus to Pond Farm focuses on one of America’s most talented mid-Century ceramicists—a feminist and environmentalist in her time—and founder of Pond Farm, the annual summer gathering that trained a generation of American artists in Sonoma County, California.

The film tells Marguerite’s backstory and how she rose to prominence at the Bauhaus. Born in France, Marguerite studied with renowned architect Walter Gropius at the Weimar Bauhaus in Germany. Characterized by its approach to design that combined aesthetics and utility, the Bauhaus was one of the most influential art schools of the 20th Century. Through talent and hard work, Marguerite was the first woman to earn the designation of “Master Potter” in pre-World War II Europe. With the rise of Nazism, she joined a community of talented Jewish artists that fled to America, eventually landing in California, where she joined an experimental artist community along the Russian River in Guerneville. It was a vibrant, yet fleeting collective that disbanded after two years. However, Marguerite remained in Sonoma County, where for three decades she shared her expertise with hundreds of eager American artists. She passed away in 1985.

Marguerite: From the Bauhaus to Pond Farm  i​s centered around the story of Pond Farm, the school Marguerite operated from a remote location above Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. Every summer for six weeks, she drilled students in exacting ceramics techniques that she learned at the Bauhaus. Students came from across the country, many returned year after year. Her students included famed sculptors like Robert Arneson, who aptly described Marguerite as “the grande dame of potters.” Once students mastered her techniques, Marguerite encouraged artistic exploration. She often wove art history, philosophy and literature into her daily lectures to inspire students to do more than simply make art; she asked that they develop their intellectual and artistic imaginations as well.

The film shares the visual beauty of the Austin Creek State Recreation Area, the rugged chaparral and oak woodlands that surround the Pond Farm compound.

Marguerite used this environment as an important teaching tool. She showed students that the natural world was rich with forms and colors that could inform their art. In this way, Pond Farm was not simply a ceramics school, but a holistic study of seeing, thinking and living with the world around us.

Marguerite is the central character in the film. Although she passed away in 1985, she lives on in a vast collection of archival film footage, photographs, and works of art. In addition to these visual elements, the documentary includes interviews with some of Pond Farm’s most accomplished students and instructors. These artists serve as the principal narrators for our story, recounting key moments in Marguerite’s life.

Distribution

Marguerite: From the Bauhaus to Pond Farm has been shown on local public television in 2023 and will be distributed on public television stations nationwide in 2024 via NorCal – Public Media. We will work closely with KRCB, PBS for Northern California, to bring our documentary to PTV stations across the country and millions of viewers who have yet to learn about this important story.

Filmmaking Team

Executive Producer, Michele Luna 

Michele Luna was the Executive Director of the Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods from 1994 through 2021. She has thirty years experience in nonprofit administration with an emphasis in volunteer programs. Michele has demonstrated skills in the areas of Board development, financial management, fund development and desktop publishing. Since 2008, Michele was active on a nationwide level with State Parks and other organizations doing advocacy and lobbying for environmental causes. She is currently retired and volunteering her time to promote the film and support efforts to revitalize Pond Farm Pottery, a National Historic Landmark.

Director and Producer, David Washburn

David Washburn makes films for public television that focus on histories and communities that are often underrepresented or misunderstood, including veterans, American Muslims and lesser known artists. His feature documentary, Three Chaplains (Independent Lens, 2023), follows Muslim chaplains and their fight for equality in the US military. An American Mosque (World Channel, 2014) recounts the arson that destroyed a mosque in rural California and the interfaith healing that followed the hate crime. He was a lead filmmaker on multiple short documentary series, including Agency: The Work of Artists (Montalvo Arts Center), Veteran Documentary Corps (Documentary Film Institute), and Loyalty: Stories (Washington Post, NBC News). His work is funded by the Doris Duke Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, and ITVS, among others.

Presenting Station, KRCB

KRCB, virtual channel 22, is a Public Broadcasting Service member television station licensed to Cotati, California, United States and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Owned by Northern California Public Media, it is a sister station to National Public Radio member KRCB-FM.

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION – STEWARDS OF THE COAST AND REDWOODS

Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods is the film’s backer and fiscal sponsor.

Stewards is a non-profit organization that partners with the Russian River Sector of California State Parks to promote, restore and protect the natural and cultural resources in our parks. The sector includes Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve and Austin Creek State Recreation Area, and Sonoma Coast State Park, including the Willow Creek watershed.