John Neely on fri 9 jun 06
Lest the Clayart community think that the USU spam machine is paying
Tony Clennell to shill for us, let me state emphatically that I have
not paid one red cent, let alone a golden loonie, for his
endorsement. Perhaps it is some misplaced loyalty to his Mormon Uncle
Jimmie - I don't know. That said, I AM flattered, though not enough
to resist some corrections and additions.
To wit:
> Dear Lee: If it were me living vicarously thru you here would be my
> picks
> for a grad programme with pots and woodfiring as the focus.
> #1 Utah State- John Neeley- JN has a Japanese wife and studio in
> Japan and
> speaks japanese fluently
I call this "culturally handicapped" and think I should have a
special parking place.
> which would favour you.
>
Lee already has access to plenty of Japanese speakers (120 million
plus?) and a studio in Japan - so this would not be much of plus for
him.
> Wood kilns rule on that
> campus.
>
I have fired with wood for a long time, but I am by no means a wood
fire chauvinist. While I believe wood kilns to be invaluable tools,
not least educational tools, most of my own work, the work I show, is
gas fired. I think that our students firing electric and gas can
easily hold their own with the wood firers. It is not the tools, it
is what you do with them.
> He is one smart dude. I have seen a long list of much good work via
> good potters from that programme.
>
All credit to the students. I am fortunate to have worked with a
great bunch of students.
> #2 Iowa State- Chuck Hindes is retiring so that one could be iffy.
> Let's see
> who they hire. Wood kilns and a woodfire aesthetic abound. Lots of
> wood
> coons around to fire with. AKAR Gallery also close by to get into
> and flog
> some work. Maybe the best internet gallery in the US. Great
> university town
> with great restaurants and bars. I liked the energy there.
>
I'm not sure who is teaching at Iowa State right now, though they
have a very well known design program. The program to which Tony
refers is that at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Recent USU
alumna Jill Lawley will be filling in for Chuck in the coming year,
teaching with Bunny McBride.
> #3 Ohio State- Brad Sweigger (sp) but the real bonus is the tech is
> Robert
> "Boomer" Moore who is a Utah State grad student that makes fabulously
> animated work.
>
Once again, not "Ohio State," but rather "Ohio University," in
Athens, Ohio - known locally as " Harvard on the Hocking," and my own
alma mater. Brad Schwieger (rhymes with chigger, go figger) is ours -
a USU alum. He was also my first lab tech, first in an illustrious
line that includes the previously mentioned Wil Shynkaruk (now at
Minnesota State University Moorhead,) my current colleague, Dan
Murphy, and until very recently, Ted Neal, who has just accepted a
position at Ball State University in Indiana. I might also point out
that Brad did his undergraduate degree at Iowa, and Wil and Dan both
completed MFAs there.
> Bruce Cochrane rates Nebraska as one of the top places- Pete
> Pinnell and
> Gail Kendall as instructors ya can't go wrong.- not sure about wood
> firing.
>
I would agree with Bruce. Eddie Dominguez is also at Nebraska. A
stellar program. *Serious* wood firing is in the works for the not
too distant future.
> #4 The more i hear Linda Arbuckle on clayart the more i think she
> is top
> notch. You'd have to learn to paint as well as her though. Her old
> tech Matt
> Long made some good thick slip soda ware. I think he now has a
> faculty job
> but it shows she is sympathetic for pot people.
>
Linda, at the University of Florida, IS top notch. She has mentored
many, many outstanding clay artists. Hiring Matt Long, an OU MFA
alum, was just another measure of her perspicacity. Matt has moved to
"Ole Miss," the University of Mississippi in Oxford. I have great
expectations for that program now, too.
> There ya have it Lee. Ronnie the Rat Meyers is visiting next week.
> I'll ask
> him. He's a pot man and ex academic. Probably does more workshops
> than ten
> men and knows where the good pots are being made.
> cheers,
> tony
>
If I might flog the dying MFA horse a bit more, I might add that I
find the idea of an online graduate program intriguing. Teaching at
the introductory level I really can't imagine, but I do believe there
is potential for significant interaction at the graduate level. I am
afraid that existing programs simply wouldn't work. I am convinced
that most of my student learn more from pot lucks than they do from
critiques, but the thought of online potlucks I find, well,
tasteless. Nor would it do to eliminate all of the critiques in favor
of potlucks. The pot lucks are predicated on the rest of the program.
Online communication is incredibly inefficient so there would have to
be some added value, something really significant change or addition
to make an online program uniquely valuable and to make it in any way
competitive with existing, residential programs. Owen Rye ran a very
successful distance ed program in Australia - most of it before the
advent of online technology. Owen and I toyed with the idea of a tri-
partite program that would include students in the US, Australia, and
Japan - the cross-cultural part was that "something extra" that would
make it all worthwhile. It was an intriguing idea but the logistics
were daunting, so it remains a pipe dream.
John Neely
USU Department of Art
Logan, UT 84322-4000
Lee Love on sat 10 jun 06
On 6/10/06, John Neely wrote:
.
> Online communication is incredibly inefficient so there would have to
> be some added value, something really significant change or addition
> to make an online program uniquely valuable and to make it in any way
> competitive with existing, residential programs.
John, there are new technologies including online video
tele-conferencing and conferencing whiteboards. Do you have any
students that are also IT majors? Talk to them about these. I
have been using Skype phone. If you haven't been exposed to it, it
is a very inexpensive way to communicate long distance. I got set
up when Jean, my wife, was visiting Minnesota. And, you can
sidestep the computer completely using Skype-in and call forwarding.
> Owen and I toyed with the idea of a tri-
> partite program that would include students in the US, Australia, and
> Japan - the cross-cultural part was that "something extra" that would
> make it all worthwhile. It was an intriguing idea but the logistics
> were daunting, so it remains a pipe dream.
I'd be interested in this. Let me know if I can help in any way.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
http://mashiko.org
My google Notebooks:
http://tinyurl.com/e5p3n
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
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