Rustermier was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1957. He took his undergraduate degree in Art at New College of the University of South Florida, USF’s honors college in Sarasota, and his Masters degree in Ceramics at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. After graduating with his MFA he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for post-graduate studio study at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and exhibited throughout the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Having personally contacted and compiled an extension collection of slides, artist statements and resumes from a select list of prominent American ceramics artists, and under the sponsorship of the US Cultural Section of the US Embassy in Prague — a collection eventually donated to the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague for their image file — he then lectured widely throughout Europe on American ceramics. In conjunction with that effort, and having collected hundreds of slides, artist statements and resume’s from Czech ceramic artists, he then lectured widely on contemporary Czech Ceramics throughout the Northeastern United States on his return.

He and his lovely wife Courtney have made their home in Providence, Rhode Island. Recently retired from a 30+year career in university-level teaching in the arts, his focus now is on full-time art-making. He continues to exhibit widely. His studio is located in Bristol, Rhode Island.

Houseguests Spring 2023