Tomkins Pottery

George and Neely Tomkins produce a variety of clay art: raku and earthenware, cone 10 high-fired stoneware functional and decorative pieces and now, also some cone 6 electric selections. George Tomkins
Born 1942 in Upland, California
University of California at Santa Barbara BA
Arizona State University MFA

Neely Tomkins
Born 1947 in Lima, Ohio
Wittenberg University BFA
Arizona State University MF

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George Tomkins moved to Yuma in 1971 after finishing his MFA to teach at Arizona Western College. Neely moved to Yuma in 1972 to marry George and teach at Kofa High School. She and George along with Peter Jagoda became Yuma’s first Artists-in-Residence under a workshop grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arizona Commission on the Arts and Arizona Western College. After only one year at Kofa, Neely decided to maintain a local gallery space for she and George, which she has done to this day. The Tomkins Pottery is located in the historic North End at 78 W 2nd St. She worked as assistant to the director when the Depot, (Yuma’s original Art Center in the old Southern Pacific train station on Gila St.) opened, helped in the early years of the Yuma Art Symposium, exhibited the work of other artists in her various retail locations and helped in the historic preservation of many buildings in the North End. She has also volunteered for over 15 years on non-profit boards including the Yuma Fine Arts Association, The Cultural Council of Yuma and Yuma Ballet Theatre. Neely enjoys working on her 1912 house and anything to do with historic preservation. For the last 25 years Neely has served as Executive Director of the Yuma Art Symposium. www.yumasymposium.org. George worked 33 years as a Professor of Art at AWC where he taught ceramics and art history. He
served the city of Yuma when sitting on the Yuma Arts and Cultural Commission and the Public Art Commission each for 8 years. He enjoys retirement in his new studio, sailing his beach cats competitively whenever he can and has taken up the guitar. He also has a few ukuleles. The Tomkins have also always exhibited throughout the Southwest.