Have you ever wondered why you should pay attention to the judgments of experts?

Experts are people who have devoted much effort to learning some skill. As they learn, they acquire a lot of knowledge and experience in a particular field. Most experts have developed their expertise by sharing activities and ideas with other experts. Often experts share some criteria that they believe are important in judging excellence. However they also sometimes disagree about criteria.

Some experts from the Arizona ceramic artworld are ceramic artists, such as Kurt Weiser, Randy Schmidt, Jeannie Otis, and Don Schaumburg, whose works appear in this program...



Kurt Weiser

Randall Schmidt


Jeanne Otis Fronski

Don Schaumburg

... collectors, like David and Sara Lieberman, who have become very knowledgeable through selecting pieces for their large crafts collection... (They recently lent pieces from that collection of contemporary ceramics and other crafts works to the Arizona State Art Museum for an exhibition called “Shared Passions.” Click to learn more about the exhibition.)

Sara and David Lieberman

... art teachers, like Roxanna May Thayer, who teaches at Cesar Chavez High School in Laveen, Arizona ...


Roxanna May-Thayer

... and Susan Raymond, who teaches at Horizon High School in Paradise Valley, Arizona...


Susan Raymond

... art historians, such as Dr. Nora Taylor, who studies the arts of Southeast Asia, ...


Nora Taylor

... and Dr. Nancy Serwint, who directs an archeological dig in Cyprus ...


Nancy Serwint

.. and museum experts, such Heather Lineberry, Senior Curator of the Arizona State University Art Museum, ...


Heather Lineberry

...and Peter Held, the Curator of Ceramics at the Ceramic Research Center.


Peter Held

These experts from the Arizona ceramics artworld and other experts around the world each bring their own skills and experience to their judgments. They do not always agree on all their judgments of excellence. However they are likely to understand and admire many of the same things in ceramic art.

We can think of the judgments of experts as invitations to see and appreciate special qualities that thoughtful and experienced people have discovered. Considering what experts think is good can also help us think about ways we might want to make our own artworks better. This program invites you to explore some of the special qualities of excellence in ceramic art.

Review