Academic Exchanges

California College of Arts and Crafts, 1999-2001

California College of Arts and Crafts, an institution dedicated to the exploration of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural learning, has decided to implement a new international program based on faculty exchange. In the spring of 1998, Provost Stephen Beal was asked by President Lorne Buchman to develop a plan for a new art and design exchange in China. This country was chosen by the College for study due to its richness in fine arts, crafts, and design tradition; it was also felt that art exchange programs as such were fairly new to China, and would therefore offer special opportunities for innovation. 

Sponsored by the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation, and in partnership with The Center for U.S.-China Arts Exchange, two members of the fine art, craft, architecture, and design faculty at CCAC will be visitors at several cultural institutions in China's Yunnan Province. In return, CCAC will host three artists, designers, and crafts people from Yunnan, who will teach studio workshops for CAAC students. 

The goal of the program is to offer CCAC faculty and students the opportunity to explore the art and design of Yunnan Province and to share CCAC faculty expertise in Western art practice with artists and students in China. 

The reason for conducting this exchange among faculty members is so that the experience can best be leveraged for broad impact within the College. While study abroad programs are incredible opportunities for students, the experience is mostly individual. Faculty members involved in overseas exchange programs can not only benefit individually, but can also use their experiences to enrich the school curriculum and have a widespread impact on the student body. Acceptance into the program is based in part on how the faculty applicant plans to integrate the work they do in China with their CCAC syllabus. 

The involvement of the Center in this project includes acting as a coordinating organization between CCAC and a host institution in China. The Center's nine-year involvement with the Yunnan Province yielded many available contacts for cultural exchange with CCAC, including the Yunnan Provincial Museum, Yunnan Folk Arts Center, and Yunnan Institute of the Arts. The Center's approach to their program in Yunnan, which aims to connect artmaking activity with the cultural histories of the regional villages, mirrors CCAC's work in the San Francisco Bay Area, which attempts to engage its local communities of color in art and design practice and appreciation. 

In addition to their pedagogical endeavors while abroad, both the CCAC faculty and the faculty members from Yunnan will be involved in projects that focus on connecting art to the local communities. Such involvements will be a powerful learning experience for both parties on the relationship between art and society in both countries.