ED AND MARY SCHEIER WILL TELL YOU THAT LUCK BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER AS YOUNG ARTISTS DURING THE DEPRESSION.

THEY STARTED AS PUPPETEERS IN THE RURAL SOUTH, BUT DISCOVERED A BETTER WAY TO EARN A LIVING... MAKING POTTERY.

Woman: THEY STARTED OUT WITH NEXT TO NOTHING.

AND A REAL COMMITMENT TO DEVELOP THIS DREAM THEY HAD, AND THEY DEVELOPED IT WITH THE GREATEST DISCIPLINE YOU CAN IMAGINE.

Narrator: OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS, THE SCHEIERS BECAME CELEBRATED AS POTTERS WHO HELPED SHAPE THE AMERICAN CRAFT RENAISSANCE.

CAN WE FIND IN HISTORY OF THE 20th CENTURY.

TWO PEOPLE SO BONDED, IN TOTAL COLLABORATION, IN LOVE AND AFFECTION AND PRODUCTIVITY, AS ED AND MARY SCHEIER?

Narrator: TODAY THEIR WORK IS AN ENDURING LEGACY.

FOUND IN MUSEUMS, CLASSROOMS, AND IN HOMES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

WE'VE HAD A WHOLE SUCCESSION OF JUST PURE LUCKY BREAKS.

Narrator: THE STORY OF ED AND MARY SCHEIER.

IS INDEED ONE OF LUCK, AND MUCH MORE, IT IS THE STORY OF... FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT'S NEW DEAL BROUGHT ED AND MARY SCHEIER TOGETHER IN 1937, TWO OF THE MANY ARTISTS SUPPORTED BY THE WPA, WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION.

ED WAS A NEW YORK CITY ARTIST WHO HAD TAUGHT CRAFTS AND PUPPETEERING.

RECOGNIZING HIS SKILL, WPA ADMINISTRATORS SENT HIM OFF AS FIELD SUPERVISOR FOR CRAFTS PROGRAMS IN THE SOUTH.

ONE OF HIS STOPS TOOK HIM TO BIG STONE GAP, VIRGINIA, WHERE THE DIRECTOR OF THE FEDERAL ART GALLERY WAS A LOCAL ARTIST NAMED MARY GOLDSMITH.

WE HAD BEEN NOTIFIED THAT ED WAS COMING, SO WE WERE ALL DRESSED UP WAITING FOR HIM, AND MR. JONES LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW AND SAID, "OH, HE'S HERE."

Ed: WE MET THERE, AND AFTER SOME TIME, WE DECIDED WE WERE GOING TO GO SEE IF WE COULD EARN OUR LIVING, OR AT LEAST HAVE AN ADVENTURE, BY PUPPETEERING.

Narrator: SO BEGAN.

A LIFELONG WORKING PARTNERSHIP.

Ed: BECAUSE NO ONE HAD ANY MONEY, PEOPLE WOULD BRING PRODUCE IN LIEU OF A TICKET.

IN ALABAMA, I REMEMBER, ON ONE OCCASION, WE GOT 24 WATERMELONS AND 2 JARS OF CANNED PEACHES.

Narrator: STOPPING IN THE TOWN OF NORRIS, TENNESSEE, THE PUPPETEERS WERE INVITED TO VISIT THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY'S NEW CERAMICS LAB.

IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

WE HAD A JOB THAT TOOK US THROUGH OUR REGULAR DAYLIGHT HOURS, AND THEN, AT NIGHT WE WOULD MONITOR THE METERS ON SOME OF THE BIG KILNS, AND IN EXCHANGE, THEY WOULD LET US USE ALL THE MATERIALS AND ALL THE EQUIPMENT.

Narrator: SPURRED BY THEIR NEW INTEREST, THE SCHEIERS SOUGHT OUT LOCAL FOLK POTTERS.

ONE PIECE HAS STAYED WITH THEM EVER SINCE.

THEY WERE WONDERFULLY GENEROUS PEOPLE.

WE WERE JUST LEARNING AS WE WENT ALONG.

Narrator: A FLAT TIRE ON A DIRT ROAD.

PROVED TO BE A TURNING POINT NOTICING THE FINE RED CLAY ON THE TIRE, THEY MADE A DECISION... TO BECOME POTTERS.

THEY FOUND AN OLD LOG CABIN IN GLADE SPRING, VIRGINIA, AND CALLED IT HILLCROCK POTTERY.

OUR POTTERY WAS SO BAD, SO HEAVY, HAVING JUST LEARNED THIS ALL FROM TRIAL AND ERROR.

Narrator: THEY WORKED COUNTLESS HOURS.

IN THE TINY SPACE, THROWING AND FIRING FUNCTIONAL WARE AND DECORATIVE FIGURES TO SELL.

IT WAS FROM THIS ENVIRONMENT OF THE STRUGGLE TO POT AND MAKE A LIVING, THAT THE GREATNESS OF THE SCHEIERS CAME FROM.

AND IN THAT CONTEXT, THE SCHEIERS LEARNED ON THE SPOT, LEARNING HOW TO DIG THE CLAY, HOW TO MAKE THE CLUNKY POTS, WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS, WHAT SELLS FOR 5 CENTS APIECE.

Narrator: ED AND MARY SOON HAD A FOLLOWING, ESPECIALLY AMONG CHILDREN.

Woman: MY YOUNGER SISTER, WHO WAS 7, AND MY LITTLE BROTHER, WHO WAS 5, AND I RAN OVER TO ASK THEM IF THEY HAD CHILDREN, TO WHICH ED, OR "MR. SCHEIER," AS MOTHER INSISTED THAT WE CALL HIM, SAID YES, THAT THEY HAD HAD A LITTLE BOY, BUT THAT ONE DAY, HE WAS PLAYING IN A POT THAT THEY HAD MADE AND THEY MISTAKENLY SOLD THAT POT WITH THEIR LITTLE BOY IN IT.

AND WE WERE JUST DEVASTATED.

WE WERE PRETTY NAIVE, I GUESS.

Narrator: DAVID CAMPBELL, THE DIRECTOR OF THE LEAGUE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE CRAFTSMEN, WAS ON HIS WAY TO A CONFERENCE WHEN HE HAPPENED UPON THE SCHEIERS' LITTLE POTTERY STUDIO.

Man: HE RECOGNIZED THAT THE SCHEIERS HAD A TALENT, THAT THEIR POTTERY REALLY WAS UNIQUE AND SPECIAL IN SOME WAY, AND WARRANTED BEING EXPOSED TO A FAR GREATER AUDIENCE THAN THEY EVER WOULD HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO.

Ed: HE PASSED US ON THE ROAD.

AND STOPPED AND SAW OUR WORK AND INVITED US TO COME ALONG.

HE SAID HE DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER THE ORGANIZATION COULD PAY US ANYTHING FOR DEMONSTRATING, BUT THEY WOULD FEED US WHILE WE WERE THERE.

Narrator: AT THE CONVENTION, THE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN CERAMICS SOCIETY SUGGESTED THAT THE SCHEIERS SEND WORK TO THE CERAMIC NATIONAL IN SYRACUSE.

WHEN THEIR BOWL TOOK FIRST PRIZE, DAVID CAMPBELL INVITED THEM TO COME AND TEACH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

THEY TURNED TO THEIR FRIEND AND PATRON, WRITER SHERWOOD ANDERSON, FOR ADVICE.

SHERWOOD SAID, "OH, THEY MUST TAKE IT, THEY MUST TAKE IT, THEY MUST GO."

HEADED NORTH, ARRIVING IN DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE, "THEY MUST TAKE IT, THEY MUST GO."

Narrator: ED AND MARY.

HEADED NORTH, ARRIVING IN DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE, IN 1940.

THOUGH ED HAD NOT GONE TO COLLEGE, HE WAS NOW A FACULTY MEMBER AT A STATE UNIVERSITY ART DEPARTMENT, WITH HIS WIFE AS ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE.

ED HAD NOT BEEN TO COLLEGE, DID NOT HAVE A DEGREE, YET HE WAS RECOGNIZED FOR THE QUALITY OF HIS WORK AND HIRED AND BECAME A PROFESSOR ON THAT BASIS.

WE WENT THERE WITHOUT ANY REAL SCHOOLING IN CERAMICS AND HAD TO KEEP A LITTLE BIT AHEAD OF THE STUDENTS UNTIL WE KNEW WHAT WE WERE REALLY DOING.

WHEN WE FIRST CAME TO DURHAM, WE FOUND OUR CLAY RIGHT ON THE CAMPUS.

I NEVER SAW MARY COME OUT TO DO THE DIGGING, BUT ED WOULD BE OUT WITH HIS STUDENTS, AND THEY WOULD DIG UP CLAY JUST LIKE THIS, THIS IS RIGHT OUT OF THE RIVER.

THE IDEA OF AN INDIGENOUS MATERIAL GOING INTO SUCH HIGH-QUALITY WORKS OF ART IS JUST A WONDERFUL IDEA.

THIS IS THE VERY, VERY FIRST POT THAT I MADE WHEN I WAS A STUDENT WITH ED SCHEIER, AND HE SAID, "DID YOU EVER DO THIS BEFORE?"

AND I SAID, "NO, I NEVER TRIED IT BEFORE AT ALL."

AND HE HELD IT UP TO THE CLASS AND HE KIND OF WALKED AROUND THE CLASS WITH IT LIKE THIS, AND HE SAID, "LOOK AT THIS, LOOK AT HOW NICE AND FRESH THE COILS ARE."

Woman: MARY WAS MORE SERIOUS, PERHAPS, AND ED WAS ALWAYS HAVING FUN, ALWAYS CRACKING JOKES WITH THE STUDENTS.

Cook: THE KIDS LOVED HIM, THEY UNDERSTOOD HOW SERIOUS HE WAS, AND I MEAN SERIOUS IN THE SENSE THAT WHAT HE WAS MAKING WAS REAL ART.

THEY WERE OVER WORKING IN THE POTTERY AT LEAST BY 7:00 EVERY MORNING.

THEY WORKED THERE USUALLY SIX DAYS A WEEK.

Narrator: THE SCHEIERS RESPONDED.

TO UNH SUPPORT WITH AN OUTPOURING OF WORK.

Man: THE PRODUCTION OF THESE.

WAS HARD, HARD WORK.

THEY WORKED AS A TEAM, A REMARKABLE TEAM, NOT ONLY IN THE STUDIO, BUT A TEAM OF THINKERS, A TEAM OF ACTIVISTS, A TEAM THAT PORTRAYED LOVE AND AFFECTION AND A HAPPY INTERDEPENDENCE.

THESE PIECES OF ART PROVOKED, EXCITED, INSTILLED A NEW IDEA, IS WHAT, I THINK, MARY AND ED WERE AFTER, IN THEIR SEARCH FOR BEAUTY.

Narrator: THE CURRIER GALLERY OF ART.

IN MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, WAS AMONG THE FIRST AMERICAN ART INSTITUTIONS TO EXHIBIT THE WORK OF THE NEARBY POTTERS.

IN THE LATE '40s AND EARLY '50s, MORE AND MORE MUSEUMS BEGAN TO LOOK AT THE DESIGN AND FUNCTIONAL OBJECTS THAT WERE BEING PRODUCED BY AMERICA'S ARTISTS AND CRAFTSMEN.

THE SCHEIERS MATURED AS ARTISTS PRECISELY WHEN THIS FASCINATION FOR AMERICA'S CONTEMPORARY DESIGN REALLY WAS FLOURISHING IN A WAY IT NEVER HAD.

THEY WERE WELL KNOWN NATIONALLY, AS POTTERS, THEY WON, GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO 1940, MANY AWARDS, MANY NATIONAL AWARDS.

THEIR WORK WAS EXHIBITED IN MAJOR MUSEUMS, INCLUDING THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

PEOPLE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE FELT VERY CLOSE TO THE SCHEIERS, THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT THIS WAS A CRAFT COUPLE THAT HAD NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME WAS VERY ACCESSIBLE TO THEM.

Narrator: THOUGH KNOWN AS A HUSBAND-WIFE TEAM, ED AND MARY EACH HAD A DISTINCT ARTISTIC IDENTITY.

THESE MORE DELICATE POTS WERE DONE BY MARY SCHEIER AND SHE WAS A REMARKABLY GOOD THROWER, THAT'S THE PERSON WHO MAKES THE POT OUT OF, STARTING OUT WITH A LUMP OF CLAY.

ONE WOULD HAVE TO FEEL THE DELICACY OF THIS, THE SHEER DELIGHT OF JUST CUPPING IT IN YOUR HAND, THE THINNESS, THE BEAUTY OF THE GLAZE.

THIS, I'M SURE, WAS ONE THAT MARY PRODUCED, AND IT IS A SHEER DELIGHT JUST TO HOLD IT IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND.

Williams: HER ABILITY TO USE A CLAY THAT WAS STRONG, AT THE SAME TIME KNOW HOW TO BRING THE WALL OF THE POT UP INTO A HIGH CYLINDER AND MAINTAIN THAT THINNESS WAS ONE OF HER HALLMARKS, I THINK, AND I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF HER AS ONE OF THE BEST POTTERS I HAVE EVER MET.

Woman: I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYONE.

BE ABLE TO DO POTTERY THAT QUICKLY.

SHE JUST SEEMED TO HAVE TOTAL CONTROL OF THE CLAY.

SHE CALLED THEM POTBOILERS BECAUSE, TO BE SUCCESSFUL, IF YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR LIVING SELLING POTTERY, YOU NEED SOME ITEMS THAT ARE LOW-COST FOR YOU TO MAKE, ATTRACTIVE, AND AFFORDABLE.

SHE PROBABLY ACTUALLY SOLD THOUSANDS OF THESE.

Narrator: MARY'S SPECIALTY WAS FUNCTIONAL WARE.

SOME DAYS, SHE WOULD THROW OVER 200 PIECES.

THIS TEA SET REFLECTS THE INSPIRATION SHE DREW FROM A CHINESE BOWL BROUGHT TO HER BY A FRIEND.

THE SKILL INVOLVED, AND THE BEAUTY, THAT YOU COULD TAKE A SIMPLE SHAPE LIKE THIS AND GIVE IT LIFE.

TO ME, THIS HAS A LIFE OF ITS OWN.

SOMETHING HAPPENED BETWEEN THE POTTER WHO MADE THIS BEAUTIFUL SUNG BOWL AND THE CLAY.

THE MINUTE I HELD IT AND EXPERIENCED THE FEEL OF IT IN MY HAND, I KNEW THAT'S THE WAY I WANTED TO GO.

Komanecky: YOU'RE STRUCK BY.

THE INCREDIBLE CONTROL THAT SHE POSSESSED IN RAISING A POT.

IF YOU'VE EVER TRIED TO DO THAT, IT'S A LOT MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT LOOKS.

AND EVEN WITH SKILL AND SOME TALENT, THERE ARE MANY WHO NEVER REACHED THE HEIGHTS THAT SHE REACHED IN MAKING THOSE THINGS.

50 YEARS LATER, THEY ARE STILL REMARKABLE, BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS THAT ARE PART OF A 2-MILLENNIA-OLD TRADITION OF POTTERY.

I THINK IT'S FAIR TO PLACE THEM IN THAT KIND OF CONTEXT.

ED ALWAYS USED TO SAY THAT HE DIDN'T TEACH POTTERY, HE TAUGHT PHILOSOPHY.

AND IN MANY WAYS, THAT WAS TRUE.

Ed: THIS IS A PROCESS THAT POTTERS USE.

AND HAVE USED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

Narrator: ED SCHEIER HAS BEEN CALLED.

A PHILOSOPHER IN CLAY.

EXPLORING HIS VIEW OF THE HUMAN CONDITION THROUGH THIS ANCIENT CRAFT, HIS USE OF THE CERAMIC SURFACE AS AN EXPRESSIVE STAGE IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BENCHMARKS OF 2Oth-CENTURY STUDIO POTTERY.

PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOOKED AT THESE THINGS HAVE FOUND THINGS IN THEM THAT I DIDN'T KNOW WERE THERE, A FEELING OF ENTRAPMENT IN SO MANY OF THEM.

HOW THAT HAPPENED I DON'T KNOW, AND WHY, I DON'T KNOW, AND IF I DID KNOW, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE LOST ALL THE IMPETUS TO DO THE THINGS.

SO IT'S SOMETIMES BEST NOT TO KNOW TOO MUCH.

Komanecky: ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU COULD SEE THAT, YES, THERE WAS THIS STAGE THAT ED CREATED WITH THESE POTS, AND A KIND OF STORYTELLING THAT WAS SOMETIMES SPECIFIC, SOMETIMES MYSTERIOUS.

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE IT IN AMERICAN STUDIO POTTERY OF THE TIME.

I THINK THOSE ARE SOME OF THE FINEST WORKS IN CERAMICS DONE IN AMERICA IN THEIR TIME.

Cook: WHAT HE DID WAS, WITH HIS DESIGN ISSUES, HE WAS ABLE TO PRESENT CONTENT THAT WAS CONTROLLED ENOUGH BY THE DESIGN SO IT WAS SAFE FOR VIEWERS TO HANDLE WHILE THEY ARE LOOKING AT THAT STUFF AND SAYING, WHOA, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

THIS IS KIND OF STRANGE, BUT ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?

IT'S SO ELEGANT.

Narrator: ONE THEME, FROM THE STORY OF GENESIS, HAS REMAINED A CONSTANT IN THE WORK OF ED SCHEIER.

Ed: SOMEHOW, I WAS INTERESTED IN THE BIBLE.

WHY, I DON'T KNOW, BUT I NEVER GOT VERY FAR INTO IT AND I GOT STUCK ON THE THEME OF ADAM AND EVE, AND I'VE BEEN WORKING ON VARIATIONS OF THAT FOR, OH, 50 YEARS.

HIS DEDICATION TO THE MOTHER AND CHILD AND TO THE ADAM AND EVE STORY WAS SOMETHING THAT NO ONE ELSE WAS DOING, AND EACH OF HIS DESIGNS STRUCK AN INTERIOR PSYCHOLOGICAL CHORD THAT MANY PEOPLE RESPONDED TO, AND NONE HAVE REALLY REACHED SINCE THEN, I THINK.

Narrator: IN 1951, THE SCHEIERS MOVED INTO A HOUSE IN DURHAM DESIGNED FOR THEM BY DAVID CAMPBELL, THE MAN WHO HAD BROUGHT THEM TO NEW HAMPSHIRE IN 1940.

THEIR COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND, PROFESSOR MEL BOBICK, AND HIS FAMILY LIVE IN THE HOUSE THEY BOUGHT FROM ED AND MARY IN 1968.

THEY JUST HAD A VERY DISTINCTIVE RHYTHM ABOUT THEM.

REALLY, IN A WAY, SOMETHING MUSICAL ABOUT THE WAY THEY MOVED AND THE WAY THEY CONDUCTED THEIR LIVES.

THEY WORKED CONSTANTLY, YET I NEVER FELT ANY FRENZY ABOUT THEM OR TENSION ABOUT THEM, IT WAS LIKE THEIR WORK WAS JUST VERY NATURAL TO THEM.

Narrator: WHEN THE SCHEIERS RETIRED FROM TEACHING IN 1960, THEY BEGAN TO SPEND WINTERS IN A CREATIVE RETREAT THEY HAD FOUND IN SOUTHERN MEXICO, OAXACA.

INDIGENOUS CRAFTS OF THE REGION SPOKE DEEPLY TO BOTH OF THEM, IN PARTICULAR THE WORK OF ZAPOTEC WEAVERS.

Komanecky: I THINK IF THERE IS ONE THING.

THAT CHARACTERIZES ED'S WORK, IS THIS CONSTANT DESIRE TO FIND NEW WAYS TO EXPRESS HIMSELF.

Narrator: THE WEAVINGS FROM SCHEIER DESIGNS.

BEGAN TO APPEAR IN THE GRANITE STATE.

Cook: THEY CAME FROM NOWHERE, I MEAN, I HAD NOT SEEN THESE RUGS, AND THEY'D BEEN MADE IN MEXICO AND THEY ARRIVED IN ROLLS.

AND WHEN I FIRST UNROLLED THEM, I MEAN, I WAS KNOCKED OUT, I MEAN, I WAS AMAZED.

Narrator: IN 1966, THE SCHEIERS ENJOYED THE HEIGHT OF THEIR FAME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

BUT THE COUPLE WAS FACING A CROSSROADS, BROUGHT ON IN PART BY THE ONSET OF ARTHRITIS IN MARY'S HANDS.

Komanecky: IT MUST HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, FOR BOTH MARY AND ED, FOR HER TO GIVE UP MAKING POTTERY.

SHE HAD BEEN DOING IT FOR 30 YEARS AT THAT POINT.

I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DID WHAT SHE DID IN SUCH A CONCENTRATED MANNER, AND TO A DEGREE, I WOULD THINK, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BIT OF A RELIEF.

Narrator: AFTER THREE DECADES AS MAJOR AMERICAN POTTERS, THE SCHEIERS DECIDED TO MOVE ON.

IN 1968, THE SCHEIERS MOVED FULL-TIME TO OAXACA, WHERE THEY COULD AFFORD BOTH A HOUSE AND A STUDIO.

HERE, INSPIRED BY CRAFT TRADITIONS SUSTAINED FOR CENTURIES, ED AND MARY CONTINUED TO REWORK FAMILIAR THEMES IN BOLD NEW MATERIALS.

Ed: THIS, AGAIN, IS AN ADAM AND EVE THEME.

THIS HANGING HAS SOME NATURAL WOOLS AND SOME SENSE OF THE MAN ENTRAPPED INSIDE THE LION.

Narrator: THE WEAVER FAMILY OF TERESO MARTINEZ.

GREW ESPECIALLY CLOSE TO THE SCHEIERS.

SORT OF A LOVE AFFAIR WITH THEM, REALLY, WE GOT TO KNOW THE WEAVERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

I WOULD BRING THEM, FIRST OF ALL, A DRAWING, USUALLY IN COLOR, AND THEN, A LARGE FULL-SCALE CARTOON WHICH THEY WOULD PLACE ON THEIR LOOM.

WE HELPED WITH THE DYEING WHEN THERE WAS DYEING, AND SOME OF THEM HAVE A DYE THAT'S DERIVED FROM A LITTLE INSECT CALLED THE COCHINEAL.

Narrator: CARVING THE TROPICAL WOOD OF THE GUANACASTLE TREE.

BECAME ANOTHER FOCUS FOR ED.

Ed: THESE ARE WONDERFUL WOODS, AND THEY WERE SO INEXPENSIVE IN MEXICO.

THIS FRONT PART STARTED AS ONE OF THESE WOODEN BOWLS THAT THE PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN MEXICO CARVE FROM THIS TREE AND USE PRINCIPALLY TO TAKE THEIR WASH, THEIR LAUNDRY, DOWN TO THE RIVER.

AND THE REMARKABLE PART ABOUT THIS WOOD IS IT'S SO STABLE.

Komanecky: THE IMMEDIATE IDENTIFIABLE COMPONENT.

OF THIS WORK IS THAT IT DEPENDS ON THE SAME UNIVERSAL THEMES THAT HAVE INTERESTED ED THROUGH HIS WHOLE CAREER... LIFE, DEATH, FERTILITY, CREATION, THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, AND WHAT GOD IS.

Narrator: WHEN ED AND MARY DECIDED TO LEAVE MEXICO IN 1978, THEY SETTLED IN GREEN VALLEY, ARIZONA.

ED WORKED MOSTLY WITH THE MEDIUM OF PAPER, ADDING WAX, PIGMENT, AND SAND TO HIS INVENTIVE PRINTMAKING PROCESS.

ON A VISIT TO A NEW YORK CITY GALLERY, SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENED.

Williams: HE SAW HIS POTS THERE.

THEY WERE ENORMOUSLY EXPENSIVE, AND HE ASKED THE GALLERY OWNER WHY THEY WERE SO EXPENSIVE AND THE GALLERY OWNER SAID, "WELL, THAT'S BECAUSE THE MAN WHO MADE IT IS NO LONGER LIVING, HE'S DEAD."

AND ED SAID, "WELL, I KNOW WHERE YOU CAN GET SOME MORE."

Narrator: AFTER 15 YEARS, ED SCHEIER WAS BACK, ONCE AGAIN FILLING THE SHELVES OF HIS STUDIO WITH FRESH POTS.

REACTION TO THE NEW CLAY WORK WAS IMMEDIATE.

IN SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, A COLLECTOR BOUGHT AN ENTIRE SHOW, OVER 100 SCHEIER PIECES.

THE NAME "SCHEIER" WAS VERY MUCH BACK IN THE STUDIO POTTERY MOVEMENT.

THE 1990s MARKED A TIME OF RENEWAL.

FOR THE LEGACY OF ED AND MARY SCHEIER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IN 1992, THE COUPLE RETURNED TO DURHAM TO RECEIVE THE PETTEE MEDAL, THE UNIVERSITY'S HIGHEST HONOR.

Komanecky: LOOKING OUT AT THE AUDIENCE, ONE COULD SEE ALL THESE WONDERFUL, CLOSE, LIFE-LONG FRIENDS OF THE SCHEIERS.

YOU COULD SEE THAT WHAT THE SCHEIERS HAD DONE WAS NOT JUST MAKE GREAT POTTERY, BUT THEY HAD CREATED A COMMUNITY AROUND THEMSELVES, ALL THESE WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO GOT DRAWN IN BY THE SCHEIERS AND WHO THEY WERE AND WHAT THEY DID.

THE LEGACY OF THE SCHEIERS, IN SOME WAYS, IS THE PEOPLE THEY'VE TOUCHED IN THEIR LIVES.

Narrator: HERE IN THE DIMOND LIBRARY, THELMA BRACKETT, THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN DURING THE SCHEIERS' TENURE, RECOGNIZED THEIR ACHIEVEMENT BY ORGANIZING ONE OF THE FIRST EXHIBITS OF THEIR WORK.

THE LIBRARY'S COLLECTION OF POTS HAS GROWN EVER SINCE.

DISPLAYING THESE PIECES AND INTEGRATING THEIR STORY INTO THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM IS PART OF A NEW UNIVERSITY-WIDE INITIATIVE IN SUSTAINABILITY.

ITS MISSION IS TO TEACH THAT THE BEAUTY TO BE FOUND IN A PLACE, WHETHER IN NATURE OR THE ARTS, SUSTAINS US AS MUCH AS CLEAN AIR, WATER, AND A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT.

Man: WE CAME TO RECOGNIZE.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A SENSE OF PLACE, AND WITHIN A SENSE OF PLACE, THE STORY OF THE PLACE THAT YOU'RE IN.

AND THEN, MEL HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE SCHEIERS AND THE POTS FOR YEARS AND HAD THIS CATALOGUE FROM THE CURRIER GALLERY, FROM A SHOW DONE IN THE EARLY '90s, WHICH HE GAVE TO ME TO READ, AND THERE IT WAS, WAS THE STORY.

Narrator: CONNECTING WITH THIS UNIQUE LEGACY.

IS AN OPPORTUNITY THE UNIVERSITY BELIEVES EVERY NEW STUDENT SHOULD HAVE.

THERE'S A POT HERE THAT REALLY SPOOKED ME.

THE BODY IS KIND OF PLAIN, AND IT'S HOLDING UP THESE PROTRUDING MASKS OR FACES WITH KIND OF POINTY NOSES AND THE DAY I SAW IT, I WAS A LITTLE BIT STRESSED OUT AND FOR SOME REASON, I THOUGHT THOSE FACES LOOKED LIKE MY OWN, SO I WONDER HOW ED SCHEIER KNEW WHAT I LOOKED LIKE WAY BACK WHEN HE WAS DOING THIS.

"THE OVERALL COLLECTION SEEMS TO BE "ABOUT MEN AND WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

"HER ARMS ARE BACK BEHIND HER "AND SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE'S SCREAMING.

"IS SHE SCARED?

IF SO, WHY?

SCARED TO BE PREGNANT?

SHE MUST BE YOUNG, TOO YOUNG."

Narrator: THE SCHEIERS' LEGACY IS TO BE FOUND, TOO, IN THE STUDIOS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE POTTERS WHO CARRY ON THE STATE'S CRAFT TRADITION.

WHAT DOES A 90-YEAR-OLD POTTER DO WHEN HIS DOCTOR SAYS "NO MORE"?

IF HE IS ED SCHEIER, HE FINDS A NEW AND CHALLENGING MEDIUM.

WELL, I'M STILL BEWILDERED BY IT.

I DON'T KNOW WHY IT WORKS OR NOT ALTOGETHER HOW IT WORKS.

THERE WERE DAYS WHEN NOTHING WOULD WORK.

IF THE COMPUTER HADN'T BEEN UP ON THIS HIGH DESK, I WOULD HAVE TRIED TO KICK IT.

WHILE I HAD NO INSTRUCTIONS AND I FUMBLED A LOT AND MADE A GREAT MANY MISTAKES, I NOW FEEL A LITTLE MORE CONFIDENT.

Komanecky: HERE WE GO, ED'S GOT A NEW SURPRISE.

HE TAKES UP THE COMPUTER AT THE AGE OF 88 OR 89 AND IS BEGINNING TO USE THAT AS THE TOOL TO MAKE THE ART THAT HE WANTS TO MAKE.

Ed: PEOPLE WERE NICE ENOUGH TO SAY GOOD THINGS ABOUT THEM, SO I'M ENCOURAGED TO CONTINUE THIS AND SEE WHERE IT LEADS.

Narrator: THANKS TO THE INTERNET, PIECES ED AND MARY MADE YEARS AGO MAGICALLY REAPPEAR.

Ed: LET'S SEE WHAT THAT IS.

YES, THIS IS A SIMPLE SORT OF GRAVY BOAT THAT WE, AT THAT TIME, WERE MAKING MANY OF.

WE'VE HAD SOME INTERESTING EXPERIENCES, FINDING THINGS ON THERE THAT OBVIOUSLY WEREN'T OURS BUT WERE LISTED UNDER OUR NAME, AND WE WROTE THEM AN E-MAIL AND TOLD THEM THAT THESE WERE NOT OURS AND THEY WROTE BACK AND SAID, "HOW DO WE KNOW YOU'RE THE SCHEIERS?

"AND IF YOU ARE THE SCHEIERS, YOU'D BE DEAD BY NOW."

SO I E-MAILED THEM BACK JUST TWO WORDS... "BE PATIENT."

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