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Hi all, It is lovely to read your posts and get a an idea of the positive vibe in this community! I was wondering if you have any tips or ideas about the following; after sitting at home behind a computer for a year i'm finally vaccinated and my company has granted me a career break of 3 months starting june 1st. In college I took a couple ceramic classes and I would love to pick up wheel throwing and combine that with a visit to Guatemala or Mexico (my husbands job is taking is in that direction). Any tips on places to go, creative retreats or ceramic schools I should try? Thank you very much for your help!

Hi again! I saw a few posts relating to where to get your BFA in ceramics, but they were all circa 2012, and there weren't many school options. Does anyone have some more recent ideas of good ceramic undergrad programs? I'm based out of Portland, Oregon but I'm more than willing to go nearly anywhere for the right program. I'm used to/fluent in ^10 firings, glaze and clay mixing, raku, wood fire, soda & salt fire, and kiln construction and repair (to an extent). I mainly do handbuilding and slab work, not to mention sculpture in many different media, but I'm also familiar with wheel throwing, slip casting, etc. Little bit of background - I've been in college for nearly four years , I'm just about to be 20 years old now (started college early), I've been doing ceramics for fun since I was 14, and seriously/professionally (ie gallery shows and sales) since I was 17. I have also spent the last two years as a lab tech in the ceramics studio at my community college and have been auditing the class and racking up college credits as I go. I have three associates degrees; one AA, one AS, and one AGS. End game I'll be teaching ceramics either at the college level or in my own studio with my own classes. That's a whole different ballpark and will probably come later in life. My professional career seems fairly straightforward, I'm well aware that the job market is relatively small and slow moving, but I have the drive, portfolio and resume to kick major a$$ in terms of job competition. I'm also expecting to be a full time studio tech for quite a few years before I start teaching because it seems like that's how it normally works. My biggest concerns are 1. facilities/instructors and 2. tuition & financial aid availability. I'll also be going for an MFA afterwards, my ultimate goal being Alfred (but that's pretty far-fetched), but I'll start a new discussion post in a couple years for that one. Thank you all in advance!