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looking for school in spain

updated thu 21 feb 02

 

Marcia Selsor on thu 14 feb 02


There is a crafts school in the castle in Zamora.I don't know they name
but the craftsmen of the area sell in the local crafts outlet. Nice
contemporary work. Valencia may also have something. There are good
contemporary craftsmen there also.
Marcia in Montana

"Holte, Jessica A" wrote:
>
> I am graduating college this year with a minor in art and am thinking
> of living in Spain for a while. I would like to devote more time to
> ceramics, which has been my love for years, and have been looking for
> graduate programs in Spain, but so far it seems like they don't really
> exist! I know Spain has beautiful pottery, but it seems like there are
> no art schools. Does anyone know of a place where I could study
> ceramics? It wouldn't necessarily have to be a graduate program at a
> university, although some sort of formal program would be nice for the
> scholarship I am working on getting. I have my heart set on
> Spain-should I look elsewhere in Europe, or is there hope for me in
> Spain? I speak Spanish and have studied ceramics for three years. Any
> suggestions would be awesome.
> Jessica Holte
>
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--
Marcia Selsor
selsor@imt.net
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls/Tuscany2002.html

Holte, Jessica A on thu 14 feb 02


I am graduating college this year with a minor in art and am thinking
of living in Spain for a while. I would like to devote more time to
ceramics, which has been my love for years, and have been looking for
graduate programs in Spain, but so far it seems like they don't really
exist! I know Spain has beautiful pottery, but it seems like there are
no art schools. Does anyone know of a place where I could study
ceramics? It wouldn't necessarily have to be a graduate program at a
university, although some sort of formal program would be nice for the
scholarship I am working on getting. I have my heart set on
Spain-should I look elsewhere in Europe, or is there hope for me in
Spain? I speak Spanish and have studied ceramics for three years. Any
suggestions would be awesome.
Jessica Holte

Janet Kaiser on sat 16 feb 02


Congratulations on graduating Jessica. There are others who will be
able to help better, although Françoise is currently off-list. Marcia
Selsor may have information too...

In the meantime, I can put you in touch with an ex-pat Brit who is
taking a 3-year course in Madrid. From what she has said, ceramics is
still not considered "high art" enough in Spain. It is a craft taught
(if at all) in technical or vocational colleges, not universities and
courses tend to be practice not academic-based. Like most European
countries which continue with apprenticeships and the guild system, be
warned: Spain still does not have the opportunities you are used to.

And of course Spain suffered from the Franco years, when there was not
much change from traditional methods from growing cork to making
pots. There have been huge changes in industry and the economics of
Spain, but not in academia. Very few universities even have ceramics
facilities, let alone whole departments in their fine art faculties.
Indeed, Art was a very suspect subject for the fascists, so it was
underfunded for 50 odd years. Many contemporary studio potters and
makers have moved from elsewhere to work in Spain, but few are "home
grown" and the ones who are really are very thin on the ground. There
is indigenous contemporary Spanish work of excellence, but you have to
travel long and far to find it. Even the folk potters seem to have
come to a standstill. Folk pottery just became "tourist kitsch" as
people stopped using it in their homes, and even that has gone out of
fashion, not least because of health and safety concerns. They were
still using raw lead until very recently. It is a bit of a hiatus,
which will possibly change as the country gradually becomes richer and
can afford the luxury of more studio ceramics.

I am sorry to say that the years of isolation following the civil war,
mean that the beautiful Spanish ceramics to which you refer, are
actually historical and not contemporary work for the main part. There
are naturally exceptions, but when looking for courses and other means
of extending your own education, it is as well to consider the big
picture. You need the whole gamut to back up any study, but it is
very thin on the ground outside museums, small craft potting
businesses and industrial production. And people are upgrading homes
by tearing out the old tiles and ceramics, to put in modern,
manufactured ware just like we did in Britain in the 1950s. So it
could be some time before what we consider to be studio ceramics comes
back into fashion in Spain. Without a market, it is a case of which
comes first? The chicken or the egg?

Don't be discouraged though. I am sure others will be able to point
you onto paths which may meet your needs. I would just encourage you
to explore other avenues first. Maybe you could live and work in Spain
and then try finding a suitable solution? If you speak Spanish, you
would soon pick up Portuguese or other Romantic languages and of
course you will get by with English at most European
colleges and universities... Good luck!

Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art / Capel Celfyddyd
Home of The International Potters' Path
8 Marine Crescent : Criccieth : GB-Wales
URL: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
postbox@the-coa.org.uk
----- Original Message -----

I am graduating college this year with a minor in art and am thinking
of living in Spain for a while. I would like to devote more time to
ceramics, which has been my love for years, and have been looking for
graduate programs in Spain, but so far it seems like they don't really
exist! I know Spain has beautiful pottery, but it seems like there
are
no art schools.

Francoise Bazard on mon 18 feb 02


Dear Jessica,
There are many ceramic art schools in Spain.
I suggest you to ask to Antonio Vivas, Manager of "Revista Ceramica",
who could help you at :
revistaceramica@terra.es
Enjoy your day !
Françoise
--
Francoise Bazard
16, imp. de la Robertsau
67800 HOENHEIM (FRANCE)
mailto: francoise@bazardceram.fr.st
http://bazardceram.fr.st
http://www.multimania.com/fbazard

Viviane escolar on wed 20 feb 02


Jessica, good schools in Barcelona, Gaudi's city, and its Gaudi year or it
might be next year. Try searching in Spanish. you will get better results.
Also look using the word alfareria, ceramics in Spanish. It fine tunes the
search.
good luck, Vivi