Bill Bracker Wheel Donation
William “Bill” Bracker – the founding father of this business as well as the actual founding father to his daughters Cindy and Anne M – was born on December 1st, 1940 and passed away in 1993. Bill’s wife Anne W and his daughters Cindy and Anne M honor his memory and the impact he had on the ceramics community. Since December 1st of 1995, they have donated a pottery wheel to a variety of schools, arts centers, institutions, and universities. Each of these locations have been selected as a Bracker Wheel Donation recipient because of a special connection to Bill or to Bracker’s as a business such as
- University of Kansas (where Bill taught)
- the Lawrence Arts Center (where both of the girls have taken classes)
- several Lawrence, KS schools
- the KC Clay Guild (Bill & Anne W were founding members),
- Washburn University
- the Kansas City Art Institute
- Underwood High School (where Bill went to school),
- Purdue University (where Bill taught before KU)
In 2016, they moved beyond these ties and opened the opportunity to any school or non-profit organization who wishes to apply. Kayla Hinton and her art students at Savannah High School in Savannah, MO won the contest that first year with a fun video letting the Brackers know how they’d use and enjoy the wheel if they were the recipients. The second year, a passionate and heartfelt plea from Joe Summers on behalf of his students at Prairie View High School in La Cygne, Kansas, a small school with a growing art program stole all three bracker women’s hearts. We got to surprise them with the announcement when Joe brought all of his students up here for a tour.
Once again the Bracker women are inviting programs to make their case to be the recipient of the Bill Bracker Memorial Wheel. Simply fill out the form below and submit it now.
