Edward Lee Goettler Was born December 2, 1929. He passed

away on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 in Albuquerque.

My Neighborhood

by Edward L. Goettler, MA

Artist, Designer, Ceramist

I was born in the Pullman, Steward Ridge area of Chicago and had lived and worked in that area until six years ago. I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in that golden memory of time and place, of family, friends and neighbors, a time when I seemed to share with the whole world the innocence and wonder of life. The world turned dark and far too serious, when I was drafted into the Korean War, there I served for two years. After my war duty I returned to my education at the Art Institute of Chicago. After the Art Institute I worked for the architectural firm Haque-Richards and Assoc., where I became an associate member and an Interior Designer for the firm and where I worked for twenty years. My Neighborhood at that time was the mid-north side. When my company suddenly merged with a larger company, I left and moved to my current residence, Albuquerque, New Mexico. My neighborhood here is quite a change from the city of Chicago. Albuquerque is located in the Rio Grande Valley, up four thousand feet in the high desert country on the slopes of the southern Rocky Mountains. The city itself is a contradiction, mostly a new city, it was a town of 60,000 before World War II and since then has 'grown to over a half a million people. The city's history goes back to the late sixteenth century, when it was founded at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Yet, life in this valley has it's roots a thousand years earlier than that, proved by the ancien t petroglyphs, (rock carvings on the lava cliffs outside the city), pottery shards and other evidence of life and history of the surrounding Native-American villages or Pueblos. The community I now live in, (the South East heights of Albuquerque),-is a mixture of older affluent, young middle class and college students. It is a cultural mixture of Hispanic, Anglo, Native and African-American cultures. Richly enhanced by the University of New Mexico's campus located within walking distance of my home. The area's architectural blending of styles is sophisticated and nearly complete. Stylistically the architecture is a potpourri of Art Deco, International and Moderne, echoing those fashions of the nineteen twenties, thirties and forties as well as the modest, practical and affordable Tract Houses of post WWII and finally, the beautiful Pueblo Revival style of the University campus, completing a representative conglomeration of an all - American community. My neighborhood like most American neighborhoods over the years, has suffered the stresses of cultural and population changes. The shifting of the local business district to the "Malls," the flight or the young to the out-lying suburbs has all taken it's toll. Fortunately the University and its campus continues to attract the insatiable intellects and culturally starved, and it is those people and their expertise and appreciation of the neighborhood's uniqueness, its history and architectural idiosyncrasies, that allows the neighborhood to survive. It is this University and this neighborhood that has compelled me here and allows me to pursue my passion to study and create ceramics. It seems so natural for me here in the valley of the ancient Tewa Indians, their pottery shards scattered through the eons and culminating in the contemporary inspirations exhibited in the elegant galleries of Santa Fe and beyond. Here my soul finds its home studying iverse and ancient techniques of the Southwest, the Amazon Indians of Brazil, and the elegant porcelains of Japan. It is my fervent desire to contribute in a major way to this wonderful art form.

Exhibitions and Awards

Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center's
2012 Artists Exhibition. Awarded: 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize ribbons
New Mexico Veterans Art

2011 Awarded: First Prize 2010 Awarded First Prize

Agora Gallery NYC, NY

Maxwell Gallery UNM

UNM College of Education, Porcelain Ceramics

International Design Market, Merchandise Mart Chicago, Room designed for television

. celebrity Scott Baio for Erwin Lambert Furniture

Lake Forest Welfare League, Showcase House (Oak Park, Illinois)

St Paul School of Design, Fiber, Clay arid Metal Exhibition, St_Paul MN

Design Derby Miami Fla. Honorable Mention for wall covering and fabric design.
Dunbar Furniture, "How America Lives," Showcase for Ed Wormley Furniture.
New Mexico State Fair 1995, Honorable Mention for porcelain design.

Limner Gallery NYC. NY "Spring Salon Exhibition,"

Notable Design Projects for:

Frank Loyd Wright, Avery Coonley House, Riverside Illinois
Frank Loyd Wright, Winslow House, Oak Park, Illinois

Frank Loyd Wright, First Presbyterian Church, Oak Park, Illinois
Johnson Wax Company, Council House & private residence, Racine Wisc.
Findlay Gallery, Chicago, Gallery and private residence for Helen Findlay.
Pritzker & Pritzker, projects for Hyatt House Corp, and family residence.

F,M.C. Corporation, Chicago, executive offices and private residence of CEO Robert Malott
and family.

Sloan Kettering Hospital NYC NY
Case Western Reserve, Ohio
Oberlin College, Ohio

American Airlines, Reservation & Customer Service Office, (Drake Hotel, Chicago),

Awarded the American Society of Interior Designers Award for Design.