Karlyn Holman ‘62 opened Karlyn’s Gallery in 1968 in Washburn as a place for potters to hone their trade and sell their wares. In the early days, she taught part-time at Northland College, raised three children, mentored budding potters, and worked at her paintings and business.

Fifty years later she’s still going strong, starting her days at 5 a.m. to write and illustrate books, plan lessons for classes, and organize painting workshops, domestic and foreign. “I love teaching more than anything else,” she said. “When I was a potter, the wheel was everything—but it became my passion to open an art studio and school and I was able to make that a reality.”