This is a partial list based on memories of Karl & Becky's sons, Eric & Brian. If you were inadvertently omitted (sorry!), or have information to contribute to this page, please email .

See also Students of Karl Martz, many of whom became lifelong friends.

Karl & Becky frequently socialized with friends in a wide range of occupations, as illustrated by this partial list.

Close Friends Included:

• Craft, Margaret "Peter" Traugott (1919?-2012; see photo of her cooking) and mathematics professor George A. Craft (1917?-2004), a botany enthusiast (continued). Margaret learned jewelry making in Berlin. A jew, she subsequently escaped Nazi Germany. In 1948 she did graduate work at Indiana University (article title), and was running her own custom jewelry business, relocated in 1949. In the 1950s (long after Karl & Becky's wedding in 1935), she created a sculptural gold ring that Karl designed. It had a turquoise stone and a diamond from Becky's mother's ring. Becky wore it the rest of her life.
• Craig, Wayne (1933-2023) of Bloomington, IN and Alexandria, Louisiana.
• Dalton, Naomi L., M.D. (1914-2000) was a dear friend and physician to Becky. She was the only female medical student from Bloomington when she obtained her M.D. at Indiana University Medical School in 1938. She delivered over 1,000 babies. She worked in a hospital in Vellore, India. In the 1970s, she worked tirelessly at Planned Parenthood.
• Dunlap, David (?-1972), painter.
• Eikerman, Alma (1908-1995), metalsmith, silversmith, and jewelry designer in the Fine Arts Dept. of Indiana University.
• Finkelstein, Lydia Brown (1932-2021), artist, art historian, art journalist.
• Fraenkel, Michael (1896-1957) and Daphne Moschos Fraenkel (1900-1991). They lived in southern Indiana briefly around 1946, when Daphne taught Byzantine Art at Indiana University. Michael, an author (see photo of him), was a friend of Henry Miller before Miller became famous, and was the basis for the character Boris in Miller's Tropic of Cancer (Page 6, Summer 2012 Newsletter of Archivists.Org). The Fraenkel's papers are archived at Washington Univ., Yale Univ. and elsewhere.
• Fraser, Dean (1916-1986) and Rosemary Fraser (1930-2009). Dean was a microbiologist. Rosemary opened The Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana, and ran it for nearly 35 years (see page 37 here). Becky was a partner in The Gallery from 1970-1975. See photos of Rosemary and Becky at 1970 in Becky's Timeline, and at Rhyton for Four Tipplers.
• Gray, Deborah and Lewis. See The Guardian.
  
  
• Hayes, Joseph & Marrijane were close friends in the 1940s. Jo was a playwrite and author. See Our Lives in Brown County (1935-1961) by Becky Brown.
• Heiden, Bernhard (1910-2000) and Cola de Joncheere Heiden. Bernhard was a composer, and Cola a pianist.
• Hicks, John.
• Hohenberger, Frank (1876-1963), photojournalist in Brown County, Indiana, whose body of work is archived in the Digital Collections of the Lilly Library of Indiana University. Hohenberger took a number of photos of Karl and his studio.
• Horton, Homer F. (1890-1960) and Minnie Getman Horton (1880-1979).
• Judd, Barbara Keiser (1920-2012), and Walter Henry Judd (1913-2003), and their children Arthur, Marcia, and Larry. Barbara wrote a pamphlet "Brown County's Art Colony - The Early Years", and was active in community affairs.
• Kapos, June Ellingwood (1927-2016), who was a ceramics student of Karl's, and her husband Ervin Kapos (1931-2016), a military operations researcher (see page 12 in this 2012 Bulletin of Military Operations Research) whose obituary is behind a paywall at the Washington Post.
• La Tour, Onya (1896-1976), art collector & dealer, artists' model, advocate for modern art in Indiana.
• Lazan, Albert (1914-2003) and Helen M. Lazan (?-1988). "Al" was second violinist in the Berkshire String Quartet and late in life, an author. Helen was a pianist.
• Levy, Stine (1927-2024) and Arthur Koch (1925-2016).
• Low, Joseph (1911-2007) and Ruth Hull Low (?-2006), and their daughters Damaris ("Dandy") Low Botwick and Jenni. Both parents were artists.
• Luersson, Karen (born 1945), dear friend of Becky.
• Lurie, Gertrude Geitner (1902-1983) and Harold H. Lurie (1899-1962).
  
  
• Mahler, Henry (1921-1983) and Anne Marie Mahler. Mahler was a biochemist.
• Mahoney, Tennis (1907-1992) and Mary E. (1908-1998). The Mahoneys ran a machine shop business from a building on the same lot as their beautiful home in Fort Wayne, IN. Tennis was granted patents on several inventions.
• Marsh, Tom (1934-1991) & Ginny. See ginnymarsh.com. Karl and Becky took potters Tom & Ginny to be their spiritual children. Ginny Marsh took many of the photographs of pots here. See photo of Ginny and Becky at the Marsh Studio.
• Martin, Clyde (1918-2014) and Alice Roberts Jones Martin (1918-2010) and their children Jean Martin Warholic and Reed Martin were lifelong close friends beginning in the 1940s. Clyde was one of four principal investigators for the Kinsey Reports. Photo of a meal with the Martins and Millers.
• McKimmie, Kathy, author of the only published biography of Karl Martz and Becky Brown, Clay Times Three (2009), articles about the 2019 Haan Museum exhibit Karl Martz and the legacy of Indiana University Ceramics among others.
• Miller, Horace Philip (1914-2001) and Hortense Spoehr Miller (1916-1989). Horace was an oil geologist and both Horace and "Horty" were botanists. Photo of a meal with the Millers.
• Murphy, Lewis Scott (1886-1947) and Ellen Shaw Murphy (1886-1979). See Impact of Scott Murphy on Karl's Career. Scott was general manager of Marion Malleable Iron Works in Marion, Indiana. Scott & Ellen built a second home, LewEllen Estates, in Nashville in 1937-38. They were patrons of the arts and major collectors of Martz pottery. Scott persuaded Karl to move his studio from the Batchfield Cabin to the more accessible Pink House, and helped to fund the move and a new studio and showroom.
  
  
• Page, Earl (?-1958) and Alice Hossack Page (1906-1998). They sold Karl & Becky the land upon which they built the Martz Studio. It was adjacent to the Page home and Earl's furniture shop.
• Pizzo, Anthony, M.D. (1921-2015) and Patricia "Patti" Murphy Pizzo (1937-2021). "Tony" was a pathologist and became head of the Bloomington Hospital Pathology Lab, which later bore his name. He was a Bloomington City Councilman, state representative, and the Coroner of Monroe County, Indiana. He was a volunteer physician in refugee camps in Cambodia, Thailand, and Zaire.
• Pozzatti, Rudy (Rudolph Otto; 1925-2021) and Dorothy "Dotti" Pozzatti (1926-2023). Rudy was an artist and print maker.
• Rossi, Urico (1916-2001) and his wife Hazel. "Rico" was first violinist in the Berkshire String Quartet.
• Seto, Hiroshi 瀬戸浩 (1941-1994). Karl worked in Seto's studio in Mashiko, Japan, during his 1971-72 sabbatical. Seto was a visiting professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Indiana University in 1972-73.
• Solotorovsky, Morris, wife Mary and their children Peter, Julian, Nina and Emilie. Morris was a bacteriologist.
• Sperry, Portia Howe (1890-1967) and her husband Ralph (1880-1961). Portia created the Abigail doll. Portia was a very close friend of Becky's. Ralph and Portia were the parents of Karl's sister in law, Portia "Posey" Sperry Martz (1923?-1976), who married Karl's brother Robert Martz.
• Swain, George Henry "Hank" (1918-2014) and Margaret "Mardi" Coman Swain (1926-2018) of Nashville, Indiana. A home designer and builder, Hank helped Karl lay the concrete foundation for the Martz Studio. He also helped with construction of the single-story extension of the house, and wrote a bio of Karl and Becky. Late in life, Hank authored three books: Leaves for the Raking (2003), Why Now? (2006), and Hank's Tall Tales and Harmless Exaggerations.
• Ulery, Norman Vincent (1908-1976), painter, and his wife Gertrude. Some of Ulery's paintings are managed by Red Shed Studios in Brown County, Indiana.
• VanBuskirk, Mazelle Kirkpatrick (1927-2013). Before making Art her career, Mazelle worked as a research technician in the lab of Dean Fraser. Karl & Becky's son Eric was mentored by her when he worked in Fraser's lab in 1958 and 1959.
• Winter, Alice (1910?-1950) and her partner Freda Hart (1896?-1968). Alice was a singer, and Freda a piano teacher. As a young boy, Eric Martz took piano lessons from Freda -- he was no good at it.

Professional Acquaintances Included:

This list is incomplete. If you have information or photos to contribute to this page, please email .

• Hamada, Shoji (1894-1978). See Note 1. In 1972, Karl & Becky visited Hamada's studio in Mashiko, Japan, and acquired one pot.
• Karen Karnes (1925-2016). See Note 1. Karl & Becky had a brown sugar bowl by Karnes on their dining table for decades.
• Leach, Bernard. See Note 1. Karl had a 1971 vase by Leach that he may have acquired when both he and Leach were in Japan in 1971. In 2025, that vase was donated to the permanent collection of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.
• Leach, David. See photograph of David Leach and Karl Martz at the home of Tom and Ginny Marsh, 1980s.
• MacKenzie, Warren. Photo of MacKenzie taken by Karl.
• Moholy-Nagy, Lázló (1895-1946). See 1944 in Karl's Timeline.
• Rickey, George (1907-2002), kinetic sculptor. See photo of Karl and Becky at David Smith's wedding, 1953 in Karl's Timeline.
• Sakuma, Totaro (1900-1976).
• Smith, David (1906-1965). Karl created a welded iron sculpture during a workshop at Indiana University led by Smith in 1955-56. Karl & Becky attended David Smith's wedding in 1953 -- see photo in Karl's Timeline.
• Wildenhain, Marguerite (1896-1985). See Note 1.

Below: Bobby Gold (left) and Eric Martz in 2007 at the above-described exhibit. The three pieces in the case between them are by Karl Martz (1912-1997), including this 13 inch gray plate, & this 18 inch polychrome platter.