Irma Starr

Irma’s Starr’s artistic journey has been a trip back in time; she’s is a 17th century slipware artist. While viewing the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s famous Burnap Collection of ceramics, Irma fell in love with the slipware mermaid on a plate, by English slipware artist Ralph Toft, and has never looked back. Irma Starr began her journey in 1963, when, as a mother of two and a senior at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), she was given a life-changing assignment; go to the Nelson-Atkins, just across the street from KCAI, choose a piece of ceramic art and reproduce it. The rest is history. In 2002, she was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute to create a 36-inch commemorative plate for the 30th Anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, where it is now hanging. She is accomplished in all of the classic glazing techniques: combing, feathering, marbling, and slip-trailing. Starr has been commissioned by private connoisseurs, museums, companies, and the White House to create commemorative pieces.