Stephani Stephenson on fri 21 oct 05
Tony Wrote
>Our route thru Hard Knocks U took us 25 years compared to their 5. So
many
>lessons learned outside the classroom,
tony
five years just ain't nothin.
in clay time
and
An MFA is not necessarily a quick ticket or a fast track to anywhere
It doesn't spare you from a single reality of life
Stephani Stephenson
also a 25 year hard knocks alum.....
got MFA somewhere there in the middle
worked my way through
I wanted to fire kilns,
they had kilns, (wood, salt, gas, etc.)
I didn't have studio space, They had studio space
I learned a lot from others there. Most of the MFA grads were in their
30s, including me.
Some in their 40s. Only a few in their very late 20s. the guy I
learned the most from was a fellow student
and had been a studio potter for
15-20 years already. the college studio provided the setting where
people could get together, and maybe that was the most important thing.
There are times when that kind of infusion is good.
I wanted to teach. I got to student teach, and later I did get a
sabbatical teaching position
But was it a free ticket to a teaching job? no it was not.
was I naive about that? Yes I was
was it a prestigious school? no it was not.
did I work my ass off? yes I did.
do I still work my ass off? yes I do
did I love clay then? yes I did
do I love it now? yes I do
How many teaching jobs did I apply for in the 90s while working out of
my own studio? who the heck remembers.
At those interviews I did well, sometimes I got close. I also saw
others who were 'in the pool' who were
great potters, and would have been good teachers. A few got selected ,
a lot didn't. Who knew what each committee wanted?
I like to think that usually a pretty good person got selected, and a
lot of other pretty good people didn''t.
I was a real rube when it came to understanding how people work,
politics, dynamics, etc...
I finally got tired of the whole massive , time gobbling interview
process.
Maybe I was a wuss about the repeated rejections!, maybe I wasn't sure
it was what I wanted anymore anyway.
And there was so much to do in the meantime .
It has taken me forever, it seems, to make my own incremental
improvements in craft.
It is important to share, pass on skill. I like being in an environment
where the air crackles with the excitement of discovery
or is peacefully humming with the rhythm of work
But when I look back at what I have done the only thing I come up with
is somehow
I just kept going.
tortoise style.
clennell on fri 21 oct 05
Hank: I thought you meant that because someone went to Alfred they moved to
the top of the pile and the one that went to Utah State was second and the
one that got their MFA from
Edinboro College was not even considered. That's why I said person, work and
then good you've got your credentials in order.
Now consider Dick Aerni and me. We don't get considered at all, except for
contract work. We don't have no education. My students ask all the time why
I'm not teaching more because of what I bring to the classroom. It's simple-
no MFA and that's in Canada where we don't even have a MFA program in
Ceramics. Bruce Cochrane(my boss) recognizes my strengths. When he's gone
I'm fungooed!
Dick for some students competition is energy. the class I just left had so
many keeners that it brought the level of the whole group up to an amazing
level. It was admittedly hard on the 2 single mothers. they wanted to put in
the overtime but had kids to pick up at daycare. I find that energy is
contagious and so is bad karma. When you have a rotten apple they can poison
the pie and when you have a number of keeners it makes the pie so very
sweet.
Our route thru Hard Knocks U took us 25 years compared to their 5. So many
lessons learned outside the classroom, me would thinks you would be on my
short list of someone to hire. I'm still laughing at Julia Galloways
statement to Kelly- Where in your body do you feel this pot? Are you
supposed to answer- it gave me an erection?
Cheers,
Tony
Bad grammar used on purpose. We don't need no education. All in all it's
just another brick in the wall.
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King Street
Beamsville, Ontario
CANADA L0R 1B1
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com/current_news/news_letter.html
Mark Issenberg on fri 21 oct 05
I really like how all schools want is a slip of paper to teach,, 30 to 40
years in the field means NOTHING, now thats DUMB,, of course thats just my $.02
Mark getting ready for winter,,,,
Richard Aerni on fri 21 oct 05
Tony,
There's too much here for me to try to make a comprehensive reply. But just
for the record, I'm not really thinking, or trying, to find a college
teaching job. I'm a studio potter first and foremost, but I do enjoy
teaching as well. So for me, that teaching experience will come in small
doses at workshops, and perhaps, at my studio, either mentoring others, or
giving workshops there. At this point, I've got a spacious well equipped
studio with three other potters working there, mostly part-time. Two are
about my age, one retired and the other still working full-time, and the
third is a young recent RIT grad. There is plenty of interaction, and lots
of chances for me to pass on all of my hard-won knowledge of the world of
ceramics. Perhaps in the future I'll try to make one space available for a
year to a new ceramics grad, as a kind of intermediate step between the
academic world of clay and the hard harsh reality of clay outside of
academia. That may be another way for me to "teach".
But I certainly appreciate all that the ceramic profs are having to bring to
the table to give their students. I'm not sure that I'm qualified, even if
I were willing, to do what they do, and it has nothing to do with MFAs. I
may be good teaching certain things, but there's lots they have to pass on
that I either have no interest in, or any experience with. What I do think
about, is that a person with a certain amount of real-world experience under
their belt before they teach is perhaps more likely to bring more to their
job than a newly hatched 24 year old MFA. Not that the youngsters can't be
world class teachers, but it seems that some experience out in the big world
before you turn to pass on your "knowledge" for the next 30 years would be a
good thing.
Best,
Richard Aerni
Rochester, NY
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 11:58:38 -0400, clennell wrote:
>Hank: I thought you meant that because someone went to Alfred they moved to
>the top of the pile and the one that went to Utah State was second and the
>one that got their MFA from
>Edinboro College was not even considered. That's why I said person, work and
>then good you've got your credentials in order.
>Now consider Dick Aerni and me. We don't get considered at all, except for
>contract work. We don't have no education. My students ask all the time why
>I'm not teaching more because of what I bring to the classroom. It's simple-
>no MFA and that's in Canada where we don't even have a MFA program in
>Ceramics. Bruce Cochrane(my boss) recognizes my strengths. When he's gone
>I'm fungooed!
>Dick for some students competition is energy. the class I just left had so
>many keeners that it brought the level of the whole group up to an amazing
>level. It was admittedly hard on the 2 single mothers. they wanted to put in
>the overtime but had kids to pick up at daycare. I find that energy is
>contagious and so is bad karma. When you have a rotten apple they can poison
>the pie and when you have a number of keeners it makes the pie so very
>sweet.
>Our route thru Hard Knocks U took us 25 years compared to their 5. So many
>lessons learned outside the classroom, me would thinks you would be on my
>short list of someone to hire. I'm still laughing at Julia Galloways
>statement to Kelly- Where in your body do you feel this pot? Are you
>supposed to answer- it gave me an erection?
>Cheers,
>Tony
>Bad grammar used on purpose. We don't need no education. All in all it's
>just another brick in the wall.
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