Specialist in wheel thrown pottery of the artistic side as opposed to functional pottery.

With a career as an Accountant, Comptroller and Budget Director of the Industrial Division with Deere & Company, he is a member of the Budget Executive Institute and National Accounting Association and trained at Augustana's Fine Art department, and seminars at various major Universities and workshops with visiting potters, Richard's work has been honored and sold across the U.S. and in many foreign countries.

Richard's love of Art has been with him all his life.  His creativity expressed in his art brings Fine Art to your daily life, as sculpture to accent your garden and outdoors.  All his creations are one-of-a-kind.

At Augustana he developed an Ash-Glaze, named after him as Rich's Ash-Glaze, which is still being used at the college.

Richard continues to creata pottery as Fine Art.

Richard's show will open to the public from May 19th, 2012 to July 19, 2012 at

Phoenix Fine Art Gallery  1530 Fifth Avenue, Moline, Illinois  61265  Tel. 309-762-9202

Wed-Fri. 12noon to 2pm and 6pm to 8pm

Sat. 2pm through 8pm

Additional hours are by appointment.

www.atthephoenix.com email:  the phoenixegg@gmail.com

Tickets for the Preview Party on Thursday, June 14, are $10 and include admittance, food, and live music. Tickets are for sale can be purchased at the door and at www.qcsymphony.com. Admittance on Friday and Saturday is free.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic announced today that Lawrence W. and Marilyn W. Matteson of Moline, Ill., have given $10 million to help launch the Mayo Clinic Proton Beam Therapy Program. With this gift, Mayo Clinic will also use matching gift funds to establish the Lawrence W. and Marilyn W. Matteson Fund in Cancer Research.

Mayo's Proton Beam Therapy Program will use the most advanced intensity-modulated technology known as pencil beam scanning, which few centers now use. Construction of the proton beam facilities in Rochester, Minn., and Phoenix, Ariz., are under way, and one of four gantries in the proton therapy facility being built in Rochester, Minn., will be named in their honor. The first treatment rooms will be available for patients in 2015 in Rochester, Minn., and in 2016 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Unlike conventional radiation therapy, which can damage healthy tissue while it destroys the tumor, proton therapy delivers nearly its entire dose within the tumor, sparing healthy tissue surrounding the cancer. This form of therapy is especially vital in sensitive areas such as the brain and lungs and is especially useful for treating children, who are at higher risk for radiation damage because their bones and tissues are still growing.

"Mr. Matteson is a grateful patient who has been very impressed with the care he received at Mayo Clinic," says Robert Foote, M.D., chair of the Mayo Clinic Department of Radiation Oncology in Rochester. "Mr. and Mrs. Matteson wanted a way to show their gratitude and chose to donate funds that will help us ease the burden cancer has on patients, especially young children."

"This gift is going to benefit children who are going through terrible cancers to not have the residual effects they would have with regular treatment," said Mrs. Matteson. "The side effects won't be something that follows them for the rest of their lives."

The Mattesons generously supported The Campaign for Mayo Clinic, a successful $1.3 billion fundraising initiative that concluded in 2009. Mr. Matteson and his son, Larry, of Burlington, Iowa, are the founders of L.W. Matteson, Inc., a marine construction and dredging company in Burlington. The company maintained one of the largest fleets of dredging and marine construction equipment on the Mississippi River. The company was sold in 2010. Mr. Matteson and his son maintain ownership of Matteson Marine, which operates switch boats on the Mississippi. Mrs. Matteson is retired from John Deere.

The Mayo Matching Gift Program recognizes that endowment of priority programs is critical for the future. In 2005 Mayo Clinic's Board of Trustees created a matching gift program to build and enhance specific endowments representing Mayo's highest research priorities. Mayo Clinic will match the annual spendable income from specific endowment gifts. Very few institutions of higher education are able and willing to match their benefactors philanthropic giving in this way.

WASHINGTON?Today, President Obama will announce investments to help rural small businesses expand and hire.  Home to some of the most diligent and self-reliant Americans, rural communities and our nation's agriculture industry are vital contributors to employment and exports from the United States.  Strong and secure rural communities are essential to creating an economy built to last that rewards hard work and responsibility?not outsourcing, loopholes, and risky financial deals. While the security of the middle class has been threatened by the irresponsible financial collapse and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, rural Americans continue to come together to buckle down and make ends meet. The values that have helped hard-working, responsible families weather the storm continue to move our economy forward.  As a result, while there is still work to do, a new report released today details the progress that has been made in the agricultural economy.

"As we continue to fight our way back from the deepest economic crisis in generations and build an economy that lasts, rural America is helping to lead the charge," said President Obama. "On farms and ranches; in towns and communities across this country, rural Americans know that we are stronger as a people when everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules.  Those are the values we need to return to, and as long as I'm President, my Administration will continue to give our rural communities the support and investment they need to show us the way."

Last August at the White House Rural Economic Forum, President Obama announced a new commitment to invest in rural businesses through the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, at no cost to tax payers.  Today, President Obama is announcing that more than $400 million has already been invested this fiscal year in these businesses through the Small Business Administration's SBIC program, and that nearly $2 billion in additional funding will be invested by the end of fiscal year 2016. These investments will continue to help finance, grow, expand, and modernize rural small business operations across the country.  The details of the locations, amounts and industries in which these dollars have been invested to date can be found HERE.

Additionally, the Council of Economic Advisers, the White House Rural Council and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are releasing a joint report today, which notes progress that has been made in the agricultural economy and details steps the Obama Administration has taken to help strengthen the farm economy and support jobs and growth in rural America. To read the full report, click HERE.

Highlights from the report include :

·Innovation: Innovation in U.S. agriculture has kept America's farms among the most productive in the world.  U.S. farm sector income reached a nominal record of $98.1 billion in 2011. Adjusting for general inflation, real farm income in 2011 recorded its 3rd highest level in the last 50 years.

·Exports: While many sectors of our economy are running trade deficits, American agriculture has enjoyed a trade surplus, with record levels of farm exports at $137.4 billion for fiscal year 2011. Yet, it is clear that still more can and should be done to boost agriculture exports. The President's National Export Initiative has opened new markets for U.S. agricultural products and services and contributed to a historic level of agricultural exports.  Once fully implemented, free trade agreements passed under this Administration with Korea, Panama, and Colombia are projected to boost U.S. agricultural exports by $2.3 billion per year.

·Clean Energy: The Administration has pursued polices that promote domestic energy alternatives like biofuels, bioenergy, and wind power to provide new opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and forest managers.  Pursuit of an all-of-the-above clean energy and energy efficiency strategy saved Americans a projected 6.5 billion kWh - enough energy to power over 590,000 homes for a year - and nearly doubled the amount of installed wind energy generation in the U.S. over the past three years from about 25,000 MW in 2008 to 47,000 MW in 2011.

·New Industries: The Administration has supported new industry diversification within the agricultural economy.  The retail value of the organic industry grew to $31.4 billion in 2011, up from $21.1 billion in 2008. The number of operations certified organic grew by 1,109 - or more than 6% - between 2009 and 2011.

·Community Investment: The rural economy has been strengthened by investments in over 6,250 new community facilities.  Additionally, over the last three years, 12,000 USDA grants and loans have been issued to assist over 50,000 rural small businesses.