mel jacobson on tue 12 jul 05
it is amazing to me...a person that has spent my entire
life working with young potters..thousands of them...then
being told that i am abusing them.
that is just plain silly.
and, any reason to attack.
my post was clear.
\what do young clay students, those working in colleges today
have to do with the leach/hamada philosophy? not much.
their teachers are not interested, they are not interested
in working to be working potters...i mentioned the big art schools.
yes, there are small numbers teaching pots, but not very many.
it was not about the poor child...being abused because
of their pierced nose and hair.
it was about not caring about 70 year old philosophy.
it was a metaphor of what you will find if you walk into
any art school. the costume, the type of work, the
attitude of the department.
in my travels around the country, i find very few programs that
stress throwing, and any form of production work. it is rare.
there are pockets, but surely not the norm. art departments in
general frown on craft standing alone.
i have been a champion of kids making pots. i have been a champion
of kids dressing up...but i am sick of posers.
they wear the costume of supposed art, but are not artists.
if you walk the walk..you make art. the dress up is only
an addendum. there are many fine young potters...working hard.
we know that. it has nothing to do with their nose or hair.
to say that i am abusing the young and killing the future of clayart
is not even correct in a small way.
it was my daily work for 35 years...teaching kids to make pots.
to give them the pride of craftsmanship, good skill, fundamental
knowledge of the science of clay.
does that seem to be a person that does not care for kids.
foolishness.
mel
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
http://home.comcast.net/~figglywig/clayart.htm
for gail's year book.
Vince Pitelka on tue 12 jul 05
> what do young clay students, those working in colleges today
> have to do with the leach/hamada philosophy? not much.
> their teachers are not interested, they are not interested
> in working to be working potters...i mentioned the big art schools.
> yes, there are small numbers teaching pots, but not very many.
Mel -
I know that you devoted your career (your first career?) to teaching art in
high school, and sent so many young artists out into the world after a great
foundation in your classes. Without the foundation provided by you and
other high school teachers, we wouldn't have much to work with at the
college level.
That said, I wish you wouldn't make statements like the above. I know that
you don't like the direction that lots of university art departments have
gone, but making such generalizations does no good. There are plenty of
universities where a student can still get a strong foundation in functional
pots. I couldn't really say how much it has to do with the Leach/Hamada
philosophy, but that's irrelevant if they are making good functional pots.
Just off the top of my head, here are a few university clay programs where
students can learn to make fine pots - Arizona State University, Ohio
University, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, University
of Nebraska, University of Colorado, Northern Arizona University, University
of Florida, Univeristy of South Carolina, Florida Gulf Coast Univeristy,
University of Tennessee, Tennessee Tech University, West Virginia
University, Utah State University, Louisiana State University, Univeristy of
Wisconsin (several of the campuses), Alfred University, University of Iowa,
and Southern Illinois University. There are plenty of others. Which ones
have I left out?
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
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