The University’s Master of Fine Arts ceramics program is yet again ranked in the top ten on U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 Best Graduate Schools list, jumping two spots this year to No. 7 in the nation. 
Michaelene Walsh, associate professor of art, was at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference in Kansas City, Missouri, when she received the news.
“I think the increase is, in part … myself and my colleague, [associate professor of ceramics] Andy Shaw, working to improve the facility, improve the curriculum, improve the student’s education overall,” Walsh said.
Students begin the University’s ceramics curriculum as undergraduates, working toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Most courses are foundation classes, including hand-building and throwing — both methods by which ceramics are crafted.
Students are also taught art history and various approaches to making
ceramics as they advance in their education. 
Through hand-building, pieces are created by forming the clay and combining assorted clay structures. In throwing, clay is thrown at a potter’s wheel, then spun into a shape dictated by the artist’s hands.
The ceramics program aims to teach students a multitude of skills throughout their years in the program, just as one would learn in photography or
painting tracks, Walsh said.
Being ranked by U.S. News & World Report means a lot to the ceramics program as it allows the students to be recognized on an international level, Walsh said.
Students who join the graduate program come from across the globe, with some students coming from places such as Canada and South Korea.
In the MFA ceramics program, students focus on specific skill sets. This involves further education on technical expertise, as well as continuing to look at how students can conceptually develop their work.
These graduate students have the opportunity to teach undergraduates at beginning or intermediate levels, as well.
“We have a great facility,” Walsh said of the Studio Arts Building, which houses the ceramics studio. “It’s large, spacious, a lot of equipment … It’s the difference between being able to experiment with a lot of things in a large space, as opposed to a few things in a small space.”
The facility houses several studios of various sizes meant for classes and art creation. The building has a graduate space which contains mini-studio areas for each graduate student to privately work on their own creations. Each studio has a wide array of equipment, including potter’s wheels and kilns in which the clay sculptures are hardened.
The Studio Arts Building is scheduled to begin renovations in spring 2017, Walsh said.
“This program has a legacy,” she said. “A big part of why it’s successful is that for decades, good people have come here and good people have taught here, and they made that foundation.”

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Emily Brauner

Ceramics Associate Professor Michaelene Walsh helped the program jump from #9 to #7 of top MFA ceramics programs in the nation according to U.S. News and World Report