Michael Boylen

“Pottery is both very tangible and abstract,” Michael says. “It also relates to basic human needs and experiences. Like any serious craft, studying pottery brings you up against yourself and provides opportunities to see and to grow.” Whether a student was aiming toward a career in ceramics, incorporating ceramics into a broader Plan, or taking a single course, Michael approached his discipline in a consistent way. “The fundamental knowledge of materials, techniques, and form was established in small introductory classes. Ongoing development in the visual arts is a personal process; therefore further instruction becomes increasingly specialized and individualized, while still maintaining the benefits of group interaction.”

Teaching Philosophy

Michael’s first concern was that his students “understand visual form and the process of ceramics, both as personal experience and in relation to the history of culture and technology.”

Scholarly Activities

Michael has worked, lectured, and given workshops in Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, and Scandinavia. A contributing editor of Studio Potter magazine, he has written for American Craft and Ceramics Monthly magazines as well. He has served as president of the Vermont Council on the Arts.

Michael was hired by Marlboro College in 1980.