PVCC Puma Press: October 2004

“ In Yixing, (E-shing) China, a person is known not by what he accomplishes on his own but by the quality of his relationships within the community,” says David Bradley, Fine Arts faculty at PVCC. “A person is defined as brother, sister, father, mother, husband, teacher, worker, wife. The concept of any person standing alone in society does not exist.”

Yixing is highly respected for its ceramic art. The economy is built on it; moreover, pottery-making techniques are passed from generation to generation, and entire families participate in the process.

“Each one works to make the quality of his relationships as high as he can, to become an exemplary citizen and, by extension, to create an exemplary place to live,” says Bradley.

The vision David Bradley brings is that each person contributes to the community by making art and through the process makes PVCC an exemplary place.

Before he learned this truth, Bradley bought into the stereotype of the artist as a person who worked alone to realize some inner vision. He enjoyed the pleasure of creating, but found it often lonely and solitary, a situation that has caused many artists to abandon their passion.

“I found that when I started teaching, I got a lot of satisfaction out of sharing. I remember the thrill of facing a room full of beginning ceramic students and seeing ahead to all the fun they were going to have. It was a powerful moment. The sharing of this idea about what they could do became more important to me than the actual art I created for myself.”

Since then, Bradley has been encouraging students to find personal motivation to make art. He helps them discover the value in their creation. He teaches, by example, that without the support, encouragement and assistance of the people around you, you are not going to get very much accomplished and that art does not have to be solitary and painful.

As part of this process, Bradley has been taking students on trips to Mexico and China to be immersed in artistic environments.

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The act of being in community, thinking of others and ourselves in relationship, changes the way we perceive life in general.
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“In Mata Ortiz, Mexico, making ceramics is a part of everyday life and is not a specialized activity that is to be done after one gets the ‘real’ work done,” says Bradley. “Pottery making is integrated as part of each day’s activities…It’s a real eye-opener for people from our culture to go there to see this: to see normal people who have the skill and the vision and the encouragement to make incredibly beautiful things.”

As in Yixing, the inhabitants of Mata Ortiz pull together to encourage and to teach each other for the common good. Each master potter would like everyone to be a master potter.

In 2004 Bradley and his students spent two weeks in China learning from and creating ceramics with three master potters. The trip evolved after Bradley developed a relationship with two Chinese clay artists living part-time in Phoenix. Because of this association, the PVCC students had the privilege of actually working in the personal studios of the masters. In most artists’ tours instruction is by demonstration and lecture only.

For the past five years, Bradley has also been taking PVCC students on one week trips to Mata Ortiz. As part of the community, students move from one pottery maker to another in order to learn their techniques.

Another goal of Bradley’s is to take the Chinese artists to visit Mata Ortiz, then to bring them all together on campus. He envisions the possibilities that could develop from having those two cultures working with students here. He looks forward to the interchanges, interactions and ramifications. What will students experience in a setting where the instructors do not speak each other’s language or English?

Bradley believes that when the common language of art speaks, all will understand. He imagines that when the nonverbal clay-speak of wedge and slip combine with the unspoken universal human expressions of encouragement, a student’s view of community will expand to include concepts that may never have been visualized—a community without borders.

Bradley has a passion for inspiring students and instructors. He believes the act of being in community, thinking of others and ourselves in relationship, changes the way we perceive life in general. He encourages students to see that we are all responsible in some way for what happens in our communities. He stimulates all to realize their potential and to inspire others.

“As instructors,” Bradley says, “we may not be responsible for developing the next Michelangelo but we have an opportunity to help our community in a very strong way by revealing how students can empower themselves creatively...” Instead of looking at art as enhancement or as an object to be admired, Bradley strives to convey the concept of art as life—art as energy and inspiration and tradition—as empowerment.
Students and faculty are invited to become part of this lively community by participating in art classes, workshops, forums and events on campus.

Refer to the events schedule or for more information call David Bradley at (602) 787-6615.