Irene De Watteville

Irčne de Watteville was born in the Alsace region of France. Sitting on her grandmother's tiled stove started her love for tiles. In 1963 she moved to Boston where she completed a four-year diploma at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, majoring in painting and graphic art. In 1983 she became interested in making tiles in the style of European 17th and 18th century majolica. She joined the board of directors of the Tile Heritage Foundation in 1998 and a year later began offering majolica classes at her studio in Solana Beach, California as part of the "Keeping the Craft Alive" program. Recently, Irčne became the chairperson of the Public Arts Advisory Committee of Solana Beach where she has been responsible for three tile installations. The city council rightly accuses her of wanting to tile the whole town.

Riley Doty

Riley Doty has been a tilesetter for 26 years. He entered apprenticeship with the determination to understand and live up to the best traditions of the craft. His study of historic tilework led him to the Tile Heritage Foundation in 1988 within a few months of its founding; today he serves as the Foundation's Secretary. Riley has systematically photographed a few thousand tile installations and has done both library research and oral interviews. He has tried to contribute to documentation and better understanding of past tilework - the art of tile design and the craft of tile manufacture and tilesetting. As a tilesetter, Riley has specialized in setting for public art installations, in working with handmade tiles, in removing antique tile installations for preservation and in restoring tilework in situ. He was a major contributor to California Tile: The Golden Era 1910-1940, published by Schiffer in 2004

Sheila Menzies

Sheila A. Menzies has had an affinity with tiles since childhood. Having grown up in Scotland she entertained herself as a child with the beautiful floral tiles surrounding her grandmother's best room fireplace and later with the "wally closes," the Victorian art-tiled wainscot entryways in Glasgow. In 1987, as a result of her personal affection for tiles and other ceramic surfaces, she was inspired (in union with Joseph Taylor) to create the Tile Heritage Foundation. Sheila is a craftswoman, a mixed media artist, with a background in stage-set design and theater costuming. She has traveled extensively in the United States, Great Britain, Portugal, Italy and Mexico documenting historic and contemporary tile installations. Today, she is the primary designer of Tile Heritage publications and the coordinator of educational events including symposiums, regional exhibitions and tile making and mosaic workshops nationwide. In October 2003, the Tile Contractors' Association of America distinguished her with the prestigious Carl V. Cesery Award, among the highest honors granted by American trade, industry and professional groups.

Joseph Taylor

Joseph A. Taylor left behind a Tiffany tile fireplace when he moved west from his childhood home in Rochester, New York. He was initiated into the world of tiles when he worked as Director of Sales at McIntyre Tile Company in Healdsburg, California from 1973 to 1985. With Sheila Menzies, he co-founded the Tile Heritage Foundation in 1987 and serves as the Foundation's president. A frequent writer and lecturer on tile history, Joe has focused much of his research on the evolution of tile manufacturing in California. He has been a principal contributor to More About Malibu Potteries 1926-1932, Catalina Tile of the Magic Isle, The Arts and Crafts Movement in California: Living the Good Life, Batchelder Tilemaker and California Tile: The Golden Era 1910-1940, published by Schiffer in 2004. He too was honored by the Tile Contractors' Association of America, receiving the Carl V. Cesery Award in October 2003.