Author: Verena Foxx
“Everything stems from my upbringing,” says acclaimed Canadian potter Mary Fox, speaking from her home in Ladysmith. The belief that helping others matters, she explains, was instilled early on. That belief now underpins the Mary Fox Legacy Society Project, which supports emerging potters through a traditional apprenticeship program that offers paid residencies, studio space, and a growing video library.
“From an early age, the notion of giving was instilled in me,” she adds, referring to how her postwar immigrant parents raised their family. They first settled in New Brunswick in the 1950s before moving to Victoria with their five children in tow.
Mary’s British-born father and Austrian-born mother both grew up in Europe during the Second World War. Each had been orphaned as a child and lived through wartime atrocities. Those childhood experiences, Mary explains, shaped their lifelong commitment to charitable action, both in their birth countries and later in Canada.
As a child, Mary observed—and participated in—her family’s regular efforts to gather clothing and financial donations to support the building of a mission school near Darjeeling, India, which still operates today.
She has now made it her life’s mission to leave a legacy based on sharing her creative knowledge to support young potters as they establish careers of their own. Royalties from her recently published second book, Developing Glazes, are donated to the endowment fund that supports the Legacy Project.
An accomplished potter who has exhibited worldwide, Mary is more than what her hands have created.
“Art has the power to guide us through life’s challenges and hardships,” she says.
Her philanthropic focus deepened after she stopped exhibiting her distinctive chalices and sculptural ceramics in 2018 to write her first book, My Life as a Potter. The book was intended to inspire the next generation of ceramic artists.
Her focus today is firmly on the Mary Fox Legacy Project.
“My whole life has been about helping others,” she reflects.
She spent years supporting her late wife during a serious illness, at a time when Mary herself was in fragile health while also building a career and a home.
“I was brought up with the importance of community building and giving back,” she says. “It’s no surprise to me that this is now the focus of my life.”
“As you get to the age I am now,” she adds, “you understand the ramifications of your backstory and how it shapes your life story.”
By 2020, Mary decided to sell her work in select galleries only—The Gallery at Mattick’s Farm and the Circle Craft Co-operative on Vancouver’s Granville Island—as well as from her home studio and at Sarah Wilson’s gallery in Ladysmith.
While she no longer formally exhibits, one of her pieces was included in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s 2025 exhibition Written in Clay: From the John David Lawrence Collection, celebrating British Columbia’s rich ceramic history.
“The books I’ve written are designed to funnel money to the project over the years—and after I’m gone,” she says.
Mary’s books are accessible and richly illustrated with photographs of her life’s work. My Life as a Potter traces how she built a successful career from the ground up, encouraging young artists to pursue their creative goals despite curveballs that life may throw their way. Her second book, Developing Glazes, supports emerging potters by inviting them not just to follow her methods, but to experiment themselves.
“It’s about thinking outside the box,” she explains. “Firing at a lower temperature, for example, reduces the carbon footprint and costs less. It’s about trial and error.”
Throughout the book, Mary documents her experiments, bringing readers along so they can understand her learning process.
“I started the apprenticeship program because I believe we need to help young people in concrete ways.”
Mary is currently working with her third apprentice, who has just begun a two-year learning period in her studio. During the first year, apprentices—paid $2,500 per month—work alongside Mary creating her well-known tableware. In the second year, they develop their own work one week per month while continuing to assist Mary during the remaining weeks.
There is no government sponsorship for the program. An endowment fund through the Vancouver Foundation generates annual interest, while a growing artist fund currently supports the apprenticeship program and will eventually purchase resident housing for future apprentices.
“None of the donations have been touched since the funds began,” Mary says. “Everything else has been paid for by the pots sold here in my studio.”
She now has her sights set on another project in Ladysmith: creating several shared studios equipped with tools and equipment donated by potters across B.C. who are aging out of the profession.
“It all started with an idea that keeps growing,” says Mary, who remains inspired by her own ongoing learning. While her output is now somewhat limited by health issues, she still holds her skills firmly in her hands—and takes joy in passing them on.
“Giving always feels good,” she says, heading out the door with her two dogs for their daily walk.
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