A Tribute to Margaret Henkels

Margaret Henkels at Apple II Computer. 1985 | Staff Portrait, Seated on steps: Tana Kellner, Ariel Doherty, Margaret Henkels. Seated on rail: Ann Kalmbach. Standing: Valerie Wells, Sarah Meyer. 1985

Women’s Studio Workshop was saddened to hear of the passing of Margaret Henkels, a former employee and critical influence in our early years as an organization. It feels appropriate that two of her initiatives, our early newsletters and the ceramics program, have been in the spotlight this year (our 50th anniversary) as we examine our past with a reinvestment in our archive, and look to our future with the construction of a state-of-the-art ceramic facility. WSW co-founder Ann Kalmbach shared her reflections on Margarets impact and legacy:

Margaret Henkels recently died six weeks after a cancer diagnosis. It is shocking. We traveled together to visit the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama only last year. 

Her relationship with WSW began in the mid-1980s. We’d recently moved from John Street in town to our ‘new’ facility on Binnewater Lane. That move and the new larger spaces opened up all kinds of programming we had only dreamed about. We needed help getting the word out. Margaret was hired as our first marketing director. While we had an Apple 2E computer, communication was still primarily via US Mail. 

During her tenure, she turned our little Binnewater Tides newsletter into a full-fledged art newspaper with articles and reviews of the work going on at WSW as well as by other interesting, often under-acknowledged women artists. Because of her interest in quality writing, she developed the series, ‘Writers Rites,’ a program that invited established women writers to read for us and have them invite an emerging writer they admired. As per WSW’s nonhierarchical policy, both received the same stipend. 

Margaret also initiated an annual gift catalog. We had been making and selling handmade paper stationery, blank books, and hand-screen printed clothing at craft fairs. A holiday catalog was the next step, and then a curious thing happened: on the odd pages at the end of the catalog, we included some of the artists’ books we had been publishing, and they sold better than the handmade paper or clothing. That jump-started the regular and ongoing marketing of the books, which led to placing them in library collections nationwide.

However, Henkels’ most lasting legacy at WSW was as the mother of the ceramics program. Margaret was a ceramic artist, a maker of beautiful and elegant work. After a few months at WSW, she started an after-work clay get-together for a couple of friends and staff. This grew to become a regular offering. When Margaret and her husband Clinton moved to Austin, TX, board member Nancy Durant continued her work organizing a tiny studio under the screenprint porch. Finally, then-intern Dani Restack stayed to develop a ceramic studio in the basement. This history laid the foundation for the state-of-the-art ceramics studio currently under construction– all because of Margaret opening our eyes to the world of clay.

I remember Margaret as an amazingly gracious woman who did not lose her temper. One time, as I stared at the computer, she said, “Let’s see if we can figure this out.” Of course, she knew how to do what I wanted to get done, but her inherent kindness prevailed, as always. She believed in conversation, not argument. She could listen and provide an insightful solution to any conundrum. She was an extraordinary woman and a dedicated artist. 

-Ann Kalmbach

Margaret will be greatly missed, but we are pleased to announce that her legacy will continue with a seed grant of $5,000 donated by WSW founders Ann Kalmbach and Tana Kellner, to support future ceramic artists-in-residence. If you would like to contribute to this memorial fund, click here.