A world-rounded education
Ceramics program trains students in their craft at home and abroad
BY NIKKI CANNON For The Dominion Post
The WVU ceramics program has offered students a creative opportunity for more than 40 years. With more than 6,000 feet of studio space, students in the program work under the direction of Shoji Satake, coordinator and professor, toward bachelor’s, bachelor of fine arts and master’s degrees. “I think that’s what makes our program unique,” Satake said, citing that WVU is one of the only universities to offer an academic path for all three degree programs. In addition to its abundance of studio space, the ceramics program has grown from its one-man show with Robert Anderson, who founded the program, to four staff members — two full and two part-time. A self-funded program, WVU Ceramics annually receives money from the Spencer and Carpenter foundations and several other national funding programs. This year, it also received an extra $370,000 in grant money from the WVU Foundation. In addition to national and local funding, the school holds a pottery sale around Christmas and Mother’s Day every year, auctioning student work to aid the program. According to Satake, the program also prides itself on teaching methods of industry production, not taught anywhere else in the country, to better ready students with real, practical workplace experience. But the most diverse opportunity the program offers is the chance to study abroad in China. For almost 16 years, students have been able to take part in the study during one of the two summer semesters or the fall semester program, visiting the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute for a comprehensive study opportunity in the “Imperial Porcelain Capital of China.” With a population of 1.4 million, more than 400,000 people work in the ceramics field in Jingdezhen. Since 400 A.D., the city has produced well-known ceramics, such as the highly sought after blue and white china that is popular to this day. Before setting off for China, Satake said students must first complete required 100-level prerequisites. Once accepted, students take part in a field study at a significant ceramic site (museum, ceramic village, studio, etc.) once a week. In the middle of the semester, the students spend 10-12 days in Najing and Yixing to learn a method of making ceramics that is special to that area. At the end of the semester, students visit the historical towns of Chen Lu, Tongshuan, Xian, and Beijing to take in sites such as the Terra Cotta Warrior of Emperor Quin, the Forbidden City and the Great wall of China. During the course of the fall term, students will travel approximately 4500 miles in China. This fall, 10 students are taking part in the semester-long study abroad program. Students will also study under visiting professors, nationally recognized artists, and some of China’s most prominent teachers and ceramic artists. “They bring in all these people. It’s just a rare opportunity to get to work with them all at once,” said Brett Kern, a third year master’s student. Kern, who took part in the program in fall of 2007, noted that haggling with the locals was one of the most entertaining experiences of the trip. “Buying ceramics in that city for those people wasn’t a big deal,” he said. Noel Slowikowski, a graduate of the program who studied in Jingdezhen in 2006, laughed when she recalled her fellow students native to China. “They always asked if I knew Yoa Ming,” she said. Slowikowski’s trip marked the first time traveling to another country, and she said she marveled at the mass amounts of ceramic materials produced in the city and how it was broken up by manufactured item. “There were ceramic shards and glazes, decals and kilns,” she said. “Just seeing that much stuff being manufactured was cool.” Students interested in the study abroad program are not limited to art majors, though a majority are, Satake established that the opportunity is for anyone with a love of ceramics and skill in pottery production. Later this year, the public can get a chance to see the new production studio, located on Frederick Lane. On Nov. 6, the program will host an open house with tours, demonstrations, and a gallery featuring student and faculty work. Visiting Ohio University artist Brad Schwieger will host a workshop for students that weekend as well, but he will also hold a demonstration and lecture open to the public. Bob Gay/The Dominion Post Chris Brown, WVU Division of Art research associate, prepares molds at the new facility.
Bob Gay/The Dominion Post WVU art students Suzanne Moore (left) and Mandy Ranck work on pots at the new WVU ceramics studio in the Ridgeview Business Park.
