A 1962 Toledo Glass Workshop alumna, the late Edith Franklin wowed attendees of the 2012 Glass Art Society conference, wearing a Laura Sassville creation. She is pictured here with her companion Doug Adams in a Jean Marie Giguere neckpiece. photo: stephen wild and suzy lamont
On Friday, August 31st, Toledo-area ceramic artist Edith Franklin, who attended Harvey Littleton’s groundbreaking glass workshop at the Toledo Museum of Art in 1962, and played an starring role at several events at the 2012 Glass Art Society conference, died of complications related to cancer at the age of 89. Born in Toledo in 1922, Franklin became a prominent force in the area’s arts community taking numerous courses in ceramics and art at the Toledo Museum of Art, and was one of the participants in the now-legendary workshop where a new type of glass furnace allowed individual artists to use glass as an expressive material.
Edith Franklin® with Shawn Messinger and Jack Schmidt at the Old Timers’ Blow, a reunion of early glassblowing pioneers at Shmidt Messenger Studio that was a highlight of the 2012 Glass Art Society conference in Toledo, Ohio. photo: steve hanson
According to her obituary in the Toledo Blade newspaper, Franklin’s dedication to the arts earned her the informal titles of “La Grande Dame of the Arts” and the “Grandmother of Ceramics” in Toledo, where she co-founded the Toledo Potters’ Guild and the founder and was a trustee of the Toledo Area Glass Guild. For a decade she was a ceramics instructor at 577 Foundation in Perrysburg, Ohio.
Franklin’s grandson Adam Ciralsky told the Toledo Blade: “She was a pioneer in the arts both locally and nationally. And among her crowning achievements was that she broke the glass ceiling for women in the arts.”
Franklin is survived by her daughter, Nan Franklin Ciralsky, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who suggest that donations can be made to the Toledo Community Foundation Inc., listing the “Edith Franklin Youth Arts Fund” under “Fund Name” in the online donation form. Other suggestions are a contribution to the Toledo Museum of Art or the Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg, Ohio.