Open Source Curriculum
Traditions of Misogyny in ‘American Studio Ceramics’
with Jasmine Baetz
October 19, 2024 // Power Dynamics series
Summary
Summary of Group Discussion by Em Irvin
Discussion Guide
About the Topic
Sexism and misogyny are embedded in many of the ideas, practices, allegiances, and revolutions that circulated and solidified in studios and classrooms in the United States under the banner of “American Studio Ceramics” in the mid-20th century. The tendency to celebrate and venerate the presumptive forefathers of our field, paired with a lack of substantial critique, allows sexist and misogynist practices to persist. This living legacy continues to have profound impacts upon ceramics education and the broader field today.
How do we – as students, teachers, and leaders – locate ourselves within or in relation to these histories? How have misogynist practices in the studio-classroom marked our generational experiences? What subtler sexisms have evolved and settled into what we do (or don’t) in the studio-classroom? In this conversation we will dig for examples, theorize what we’ve unearthed, and discuss the utility of truth-telling for transformation in the ceramics field. While the primary focus will be on the history and persistence of these dynamics in the United States, we will also consider their relationship to dominant norms and practices in global contexts.
About the Artist
Jasmine Baetz (she/her) has made things out of clay from a young age, and it remains her primary tool for making sense of the world. She holds a BA in religious studies from the University of Toronto, a diploma in Fine Arts from Langara College in Vancouver, a BFA in 3D Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Colorado, Boulder where she facilitated the sculpture project for Los Seis de Boulder. She was Assistant Professor of Art at Coker University in Hartsville, SC, and Lincoln Visiting Professor in Ceramics at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA, and curated the 79th Scripps Ceramic Annual: The idea of feeling brown. This semester she is teaching at Chaffey College and writing an article about ceramics and misogyny.