by Matthew Makowski
photos by Jessica Weal

After traveling 6,492 miles to West Michigan from South Korea, 13 students from Seoul National University of Science and Technology exited a plane in Grand Rapids and stepped onto American soil, many for the first time.

Following the 13-hour flight, SeoulTech students and five South Korean-based artists were greeted by Hoon Lee, associate professor of ceramics at Grand Valley.

Lee invited the group to participate in a ceramics workshop at Grand Valley with a promise that their finished pieces would collectively be submitted as a single entry into ArtPrize, the world’s largest international art competition held in Grand Rapids each fall.

Throughout July, four teams of students paired with artists to wedge, mold and sculpt columns, each standing approximately eight inches tall. Not only were the columns entered into this year’s ArtPrize, they since have been added to Grand Valley’s permanent collection of more than 13,000 works of art.

This year’s International Ceramics Workshop was another phase in the efforts to nourish the collaborative relationship between Grand Valley and SeoulTech. The partnership officially began in 2008 after Lee worked with Grand Valley’s Padnos International Center for four years to create the international exchange program.

SeoulTech was a natural choice for Lee to pitch for an art and design-based partnership because it is his alma mater and he used to teach there. More importantly, Lee said, SeoulTech has one of the best ceramics programs in Korea.

“When I arrived at Grand Valley, the only exchange program for art and design students was with Kingston University in London,” Lee recalled. “I wanted to provide students with an additional study abroad opportunity, particularly one from a country with a long, rich tradition in ceramic art.”

Since that time, students and faculty members from both universities have participated in various degree and study abroad programs to exchange creative practices and culturally diverse ideas. Lee hopes to expand the partnership by establishing a dual degree program in which students would be able to obtain degrees from both Grand Valley and SeoulTech.

In summer 2011, Grand Valley hosted the first international ceramics workshop, in which two faculty members and eight students from SeoulTech worked side-by-side with two faculty members and 10 students from Grand Valley.

Brian Westrick was among the Grand Valley ceramics students at the workshop and said it was his first experience working with students from a different country.

“The ceramics workshop facilitated the building of a community that I haven’t been able to find in the American ceramics programs I have participated in,” said Westrick, ’12. “The workshop taught me that not only is ceramics an ancient form of expression, but one that can bisect cultural barriers.”

The partnership continued in 2013 when the SeoulTech Museum of Art hosted the first joint exhibition between Grand Valley and SeoulTech art and design faculty. The second joint exhibition took place this year in Allendale during Grand Valley’s 13th annual Fall Arts Celebration.

During this year’s workshop, Wansoo Kim was invited to participate as a visiting artist. After meeting Lee at SeoulTech in 2012, Kim participated in a study abroad program at Grand Valley for three semesters. He is now a ceramics graduate student at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

While many Korean students and faculty members receive training from an industrial design approach, Kim said he was enthusiastic to work with SeoulTech students to broaden their horizons about the expansive range of ceramics.

“Korea has a simple, modern style because of the country’s rich ceramics history,” Kim said. “Students in Korea sometimes think ceramics is just making pottery and cups, but in America they are learning that this art form can be more colorful and creative.”

To Hyejun Oh, a freshman majoring in ceramic arts at SeoulTech, the workshop presented more than simply an opportunity to expand her knowledge of ceramics. It was also an opportunity to show that art is not restricted by language, cultural differences or geography.

“I think that art is a form of communication, and even though we can’t speak the same language, we all understand the language of art,” said Oh.