Last month, Frank Matranga, a renowned potter and longtime Manhattan Beach resident, passed away from leukemia. He was 83.
His house and studio, which he bought in 1970 and remodeled, are visible on the corner of Ardmore and 2nd Street. The property stands out with murals on the sides and statues out front created by Matranga.
“The whole house reflected him,” said Manhattan Beach resident Jan Dennis, who collects his work. “When people asked me what kind of architecture it is, I’d say, ‘It’s Frank Matranga’s architecture.’”
The Manhattan Beach Conservancy, which Dennis used to chair, named it a historic landmark.
When the Matranga studio had a sale, people would stop by, sometimes just to look, according to his wife Casey. Matranga didn’t mind, she said.
“It didn’t make any difference it they were going to purchase anything,” said Casey. “They just had the curiosity to see his work. That’s all he wanted.”
Frank was born in Alhambra, California. His father and his mother’s parents were from Sicily.
He originally wanted to be an architect. But when he was offered a job as an art teacher that included teaching ceramics, he threw himself into the medium.
“You either have a feel for your hands in clay or you don’t, and it was immediate for him,” said Casey.
In the 1960s, Matranga went to USC for grad school. A yellow “SC” can be seen on the red chimney sticking out of his house.
Matranga belonged to a local artists collective, the Twigs. A fellow member, Mariann Scolinos, praised his work.
“As a potter, I think he was bar none,” she said. “He had a wonderful command of the medium.”
In the 1970s, he did two residencies in Japan. He incorporated the aesthetic into his work and into his house, which he bought in 1970 and remodeled.
“There’s a slight Japanese feel to the home to create the sense of serenity you see in Japanese architecture,” said Casey.
He made about 60 murals, including one at a former Sears store in Escondido and six at different Los Angeles County libraries.
In 1976, he served as the president of the Southern California chapter of the American Ceramic Society.
From 1986 to 1987, he had a gallery in downtown Manhattan Beach, Earth and Fire Gallery. Casey quit her job as a travel agent to help run the store.
“People would walk in and ask how many artists were represented,” she recalled. “They were always astounded that it was the work of one person.”
His work ranges from slabs depicting the Manhattan Beach pier to containers with polished branches as handles.
A former student, Tom Williams, will fire up Frank’s last commission, a pair of swivel chairs and a table.
In addition to pottery, Frank also loved jazz, riding his bike on The Strand, and his yellow Porsche.
“He was a very happy person because he did what he enjoyed — that summed up his life,” said Casey. “Or as people more commonly stated, he only did what he enjoyed.”
