History and Process

Tucson
Bob Mckusick (1930-2016) was born in California and raised in the Miami/Globe area.  Charmion Mckusick (1931-2022) was raised in Illinois. They married in 1951. From 1952-54 they lived in Tucson in a house that was built in a joint enterprise with artist Ted De Grazia. There they started Gila Pottery where they made ceramic products and tiles. They produced and sold their work at Desert House Crafts. 

Early McKusick tiles

Desert House Crafts
Started by John Tanner, Desert House Crafts operated on North Campbell Road from 1946 to 1978. Initially, Chad and Bernice Smith ran the pottery shop. Next to take over were Bob and Charmion McKusick in 1952. Charmion taught Bebe Lotz, another artist at Desert House Crafts, how to make tiles and when the McKusicks moved to Globe in 1954, Don and Bebe Lotz took over the pottery shop. Several others ran the pottery shop after the Lotzs, including Lydia Cosen, a White Mountain Apache woman, who took over in 1963. For more information on Desert House Crafts, watch this informative YouTube video.

 

Globe
In 1954, the McKusicks moved to Globe and changed the name of their business to McKusick Tile Studio. 

This sign is on display at Bullion Plaza Museum

 

 

They made tiles with desert animals and bird designs, and with the help of Navajo, Hopi and Apache artists such as Daniel Nash, Hopi White Bear (Oswald Fredericks) and Beatien Yazz, made tiles of Native American design. They also produced at least two landscape tiles, including one of Sabino Canyon and one of the Superstition Mountains.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker and Coyote tiles

 

 

 Native American tiles by Beatien Yazz and Hopi White Bear

  

 

Landscape tiles

 

 

In the early 1960s they went by McKusick Mosaic. 

 

In order to do something "more lucrative," for a period the McKusicks rented the tile studio to Bruce Gaskins. Gaskins produced the tiles under the name of Gaskins Gila Arts. The McKusicks were not happy with the quality being produced and regained control of the studio.

 

At another point, the McKusicks leased the rights of some of their designs to Foothill Pottery. This relationship was short lived and mutually dissolved.

 

Process

Charmion drew out the designs, etched the molds for the tiles, and applied the glazes. The tiles were made using the cuenca technique, where raised lines on the tile are used to separate the different colors of glaze.

 

Master mold and finished tile

 

Bob mined the clay from land they owned in Globe, pressed the tiles, developed and mixed the glazes, and fired the kiln. Grog, added to the clay to make it less prone to warpage when fired, was made from milled schist found around the Mckusick's home.

 

In general, the tiles made in Tucson have clay that is redder and thicker. The Globe tiles are thinner and the clay is brown in color, reflecting the native materials used.

In 1992, the 6 inch tiles sold for around $40 and the smaller tiles for $25.

Their tiles were sold in many locations including the Fred Harvey shops at Grand Canyon, Heard Museum in Phoenix, Phoenix Art Museum, Kolb Brothers Studio at Grand Canyon, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Nieman Marcus in Dallas, and Natural History Museum at Balboa Park in San Diego. Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum has a list of 26 locations as part of their McKusick exhibit.

For more information see "An Appreciation of McKusick Tiles" in the Globe Miami Times

Sources
Peter Pegnam, Tucson Citizen, July 27, 1992
Globe Miami Times, January 7, 2014

Arizona State Museum, John Tanner and Desert House Crafts: Two Historic Tucson Icons, Video
A conversation with Charmion McKusick

Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum, Miami, AZ