Marilyn Kay Austin

Marilyn Kay Austin

Marilyn Kay Austin attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was the only female in her class of 1962 to graduate with a BFA degree in Industrial Design. Later that same year, she began her work at Architectural Pottery in Los Angeles as their first full-time in-house designer at the age of 22. For the next three years, she produced award-winning designs for both ceramics and fiberglass, contributing to the company’s image of groundbreaking design that helped to mold the movement that was to become Mid-Century Modernism. After leaving Architectural Pottery, she continued her work as an industrial designer, designing plumbing products for American Standard for five years. She then moved on to applying her talents to commercial interior design for her own business, followed by 18 years as Senior Designer for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, CA. In 2012, Marilyn was featured in an exhibit at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles titled California’s Designing Women: 1896–1986. Twelve years later she was featured in a 6-month show at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona titled Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape, honoring the designers at AP and their significant impact on mid-20th century architecture and design in California. As impressive as these accomplishments still seem today, it must be remembered they were made while working in a profession dominated by men, making her a true pioneer in the world of women in design.