Art Teacher Alice Munn Visits China on Grant to Study Chinese Ceramics

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"My mother took the Ming rose out of the cradle.."

"My mother took the Ming rose out of the cradle..." This line from a dream I had in 1985 is where my journey to China began. Ming Dynasty? Cradle of Civilization? These questions led me to a curiosity about China, the Ming Dynasty, Taoism, bamboo brush painting, the elegant and sometimes spare style of the Chinese scrolls, and the long history of Chinese ceramics. The more I learned the more I wanted to visit China and see and experience these facets of the Chinese culture.

The San Bao Ming Dynasty ceramic studio.

The long-awaited opportunity came last January in the form of an e-mail advertising a trip to China led by Bob Anderson, ceramics instructor at West Virginia University. This ceramics-specific trip offering a bonus of six graduate credits was the chance I had been waiting for.

Alice Munn at the Great Wall.

On May 24, I headed for China with twelve other clay enthusiasts for five-and-a-half glorious weeks of working with other artists and traveling throughout the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Cansu and Hebei, mostly by train.

View from the train to Xining.

Most of the places we stayed had some link to ceramics. The trip originated in Shanghai where we took a train to the Jingdezghen, the city of Imperial Porcelain. We spent two weeks working in a renovated Ming Dynasty-style studio at the Jingdezhhen Ceramic Institute where the International Ceramics Education Symposium was being held. This gave us the opportunity to meet ceramic artists from all over the world who had come to attend this worldwide symposium.

At the Jingdezghen Porcelain Factory.

Next we visited Chenlu, where we learned the special carving techniques and firing methods used to produce Yaoware, with its gorgeous celadon grey-green glazes.

Ceramic works at Chenlu.

In Xian we were able to view Emperor Qin's amazing terra-cotta Army which was buried with him over 2000 years ago.

From here we traveled to the Qinghai Lake Region. We stayed in Xining while we visiting the minority Tu and Zhang people, nomadic, sheep herders of the upper plateau area.

At the Xining market.

Our final destination was Beijing. Here we walked the Great Wall in complete awe, spent time in Tainanmen Squire, got lost in the immensity of the Forbidden City and Imperial Palace.

The Forbidden City.

We capped of the trip with inspiring visits with some extraordinary contemporary artists in their studios at the finest art school in the country, the Central Academy of Fine Art. Who could ask for more?

Work on exhibit at the Central Academy of Fine Art Graduate Show.

This was indeed the trip of a lifetime I had always wished for. I have returned to Greenville with new skills, fresh ideas for my work as an artist, ideas for future projects with my students, new friendships and international connections, and a broader view of the world which now seems like an infinitely smaller place ..

Throwing a bowl at San Bao.

I would like to express my appreciation to the Metropolitan Arts Council for awarding me a career development grant. This grant, plus the financial assistance of Christ Church Episcopal School, helped make this trip a reality for me. Now, having returned to my home, China and my "Ming rose" once again feel like a dream, one that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Alice Ballard Munn, July 22, 2004