Skip to main content

Search form

Shopping cart 0 items
Subscribe
Donate
Login
Share
Login
Home
  • Become a Member
  • Journal
    • Current Articles
      • Interviews
      • Narrative
      • History
      • Technology
      • Criticism
      • Other
    • Print Archive
  • Announcements
    • General
    • Classified
    • Events
    • Newsletter
  • Calendar
  • Participate
    • Write for SP
    • Internships
    • Donate
      • Partners
      • Underwriting
  • About
    • Mission
    • History
    • Masthead
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact
    • Privacy Notice
    • FAQ
  • Grants
Lanzhou City University Ceramics Studio

Ceramic Education in Western China

Stephen Driver

Through intention, serendipity, and a dedicated commitment to ceramics education, Keaton Wynn, in collaboration with some equally committed educators in China, created a remarkable educational experiment in Lanzhou, China that began at Georgia Southwestern University in 2012.

What started as a three-year research grant in 2013 transformed into building a new ceramics studio at Lanzhou City University, establishing the only degree-granting ceramics program in a province of almost 26 million people and creating a faculty exchange and artist-in-residency program. Keaton and his Chinese collaborators made this while maneuvering a labyrinth of government and university bureaucracies and teaching full-time at Georgia Southwestern State University.

This remarkable story begins in 2012 when Georgia Southwestern State University hosted Wang Jianjiang as a visiting scholar from Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou. During that year, Keaton and Jianjiang worked on a project to address Jianjiang's interests in contemporary cultural issues in Western China while drawing upon the area's ancient historical importance, which is defined as Dunhuang Culture. Dunhuang was the gateway to the Silk Road, the initial migration point of Buddhism to China, and near the center of the Majiayao Neolithic ceramics tradition. 

Lanzhou is the capital and the largest city, with 3.8 million people, in Gansu Province, alongside the Yellow River. This area of Northwestern China was an integral part of the Silk Road's history and what is known as Dunhuang Culture. Dunhuang is known for Buddhist sanctuaries and frescos.

The Chinese government awarded Keaton and Professor Wang a three-year grant through Northwest Normal University in  Lanzhou to develop a research center to produce contemporary artworks that responded to Dunhuang Culture. This was an experimental project to develop works that honor the past.

...
Read more

Author Bio

Stephen Driver

Stephen Driver has been a potter for over fifty years, of which twenty of those years were as a teacher, his last position at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He has an MFA from the University of Georgia under Ron Meyer and has written articles for Pottery Making Illustrated, The Log Book Wood Fire Journal, and Ceramics Monthly, as well as Studio Potter.
He has a studio, gallery, home, and wood-fired kilns within the Ozark National Forest in Northwest Arkansas.

CONTACT  |  NEWSLETTER SIGNUP  |  COPYRIGHT © 2020 STUDIO POTTER  |  SITE DESIGN

Design by Adaptive Theme

Member Log in

Enter your Studio Potter username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
Forgot your password?
Continue as Guest
Become a Member
Library IP Login