Combining cultures and art of ceramics

Students embark on an exciting artistic journey through Spain’s history in the arts

By Lauren Martin

A short white building that most people wouldn’t think anything of hides a world of art history, culture, and adventure. Upon walking through the door, FSU students are thrust into a bustle of activity: Wheels are turning, people are painting, and dust is flying everywhere.

Inma Juan and Ximo Pascual, the two Valencians who call this building home, greet everyone with a bright and cheery “Hola.” Despite their not speaking the slightest bit of English, you can tell they are excited to start the day.

That first day at the studio, the students, still groggy from their 8:00 a.m. wake-up call, look around nervously, not sure what to expect.

However, on subsequent mornings, students are up to their elbows in clay.

Working with local artists is awesome because they have welcomed us into their workshop and taught us not only technique, but the history and significance of tradition for each style of creation,

says FSU junior Claudia Stevens about working in the studio.

Professor Holly Hanessian teaches The Ceramics of Valencia (ART3930). The summer 2018 course was split between lecture-style classes, in which students mainly learned about the history of ceramics through outings to local museums and tours of the city, and studio-based classes in which the students got hands-on experience building the materials they were learning about.

Hanessian, who is the area head of ceramics in Tallahassee, has been teaching ceramics full-time for the past 20 years, with another 10 years of part-time experience before that, credentials that make her perfect for the job. No stranger to travel, she has taught in other study abroad programs, as well as in Valencia with FSU once before.

“When I got here [the first time], I was like ‘Oh my gosh,’” she says, reliving her excitement. “I had no idea it was going to be the ceramic paradise.” Spain’s rich history with all types of art, but most notably ceramics, dates back to the 14th century when Spain was an important part of Middle Eastern trade routes. Valencia was part of a triangle of trade with the southern port town of Malaga and the island of Mallorca. New ceramics techniques stayed in Spain for at least a century before spreading to England and the rest of Europe.

(From left) Ximo Pascual, Holly Hanessian, and Inma Juan pose outside of the Ajuntament De Paterna, the studio that hosts the class.

“After the Middle East exported their knowledge to Spain, Spain was the bomb,” Hanessian says.

This history can be seen at the local Lladro “City of Porcelain” museum that students visit with the class. The nearby town of Manises is even home to its own kind of reflective ware, which is still respected across the world today. It is called lusterware, a type of pottery that has a metallic glaze.

“And all the tile everywhere!” Hanessian says. “You can’t help but see all the tile.” It’s true. Almost every building in Valencia has some sort of tile or sculpture built right into the walls. During this course, students get to explore the city to see this firsthand.

“I really like how [Hanessian] incorporates going around town—we go to a lot of museums,” says sophomore and international affairs major Taylor Mackin.

There seems to be no better place in the world to study the rich history of ceramics.

Hanessian explains that her teaching method for “a group that’s at a college level but hasn’t had much experience with hands-on materials...needs to start with a baseline intelligence but also just general information.”

Juan and Pascual reflect this attitude in the studio as well. Although there is a bit of a language barrier in the art studio, FSU has program assistants (PAs) who are all fluent in Spanish. Dani Vivar, the PA on duty, spends her time translating instructions from Juan and Pascual to the class, and Hanessian then adds context and history to the lesson.

Vivar says that translating always has her on her toes.

“But at the end of the day, it’s nice seeing two different cultures interacting,” she says.

During the lesson, Juan clearly explains why the Spaniards included so much detail on their tiles. “They were scared of leaving too much space,” Vivar translates.

Holly Hanessian and her ceramics students stop for a goofy photograph, after a trip to a local ceramics factory during class.

Photo by Nomadic Noles staff

While it may sound as though students need at least a degree in art to succeed in this class, it is actually for non-art majors.

Hunter Smith, an FSU senior majoring in environmental science and policy with no prior experience in ceramics, says, “I think I am a creative person, so that helps me envision what I want to create—execution is like halfway there.”

Even students focusing in other areas of art seem to be enjoying the excitement of the class.

Though he is majoring in graphic design at FSU, Jake Routh says, “It is nice getting the hands-on experience,” while adding the finishing touches to his own ceramic tile.

Routh and the other students were looking forward to showing off their hard work when taking their projects home.

Using photos that she took of pots in Valencia’s Museo Nacional de Cerámica y Artes Suntuarias “González Martí” museum as inspiration, Sari Stein (left) begins designing her own pot.

A pot made by a student.

A pot made by a student.

Working with local artists is awesome because they have welcomed us into their workshop and taught us not only technique, but the history and significance of tradition for each style of creation.

– Claudia Stevens