Forrest L. Merrill
Collector Forrest L. Merrill’s (1933–2026) deep appreciation for all manner of hand-wrought vessels of wood, metal, glass, fiber, and clay is apparent in his vast collection of craft. But even more important are the personal relationships he forged with the exceptional artists and his desire to share his unique collection with a public for whom art education and exposure to art is disappearing. Inspired in 1950 by a high school art teacher, his first purchase was a glass bowl by Glen Lukens, a pioneer in studio crafts. Right then, a collector was born. Merrill’s collection is one of the largest and most important of its kind in the world, containing pieces that span the arcs of entire careers of major artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
