West VirginiaUniversity and Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute officials will sign an agreement Tuesday, Feb. 18, that will continue and strengthen the tie between the two institutions.

The agreement, to be signed at 2 p.m. in the WVU Presidents conference room in Stewart Hall, will establish the”JingdezhenCeramicInstitute-WestVirginiaUniversityCenter for the Study of Ceramic Arts.”

Xhiguang Li, head of foreign affairs, Renxian Xiao, vice president of the college, and Guolin Hu, deputy director of education �€all from Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute �€will join WVU President David C. Hardesty, Provost Gerald Lang, College of Creative Arts Dean Bernard Schultz, International Programs Director Dan Weiner, Professor of Art Robert Anderson and other WVU representatives at the signing.

The agreement will allow for creation of a semester study abroad program at Jingdezhen, building on the six-week summer program Anderson has led since 1996.

“I am most pleased to see an expansion of the relationship between WVU and Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute,”said Dean Bernie Schultz of the College of Creative Arts.”Our ceramics program has enjoyed an affiliation with Jingdezhen for the past eight years. This expanded partnership will open new educational and research opportunities for our students and faculty.”

The city of Jingdezhen is considered the porcelain capital of the world, producing Imperial porcelains since the Yuan Dynasty. Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute is Chinas national school for ceramic education.

“Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute is the premier academic program for ceramic arts in all of Asia because of its location in Jingdezhen, the �€~Porcelain Capital of the World,and because it has the largest and most comprehensive group of faculty and staff that continue to teach both ancient and contemporary craft techniques,”Weiner said.”The Institute is responsible for placing more ceramic artist/teachers in programs throughout China, as well as Western institutions, than any other program.”

“The agreement will codify the relationship between our programs,”Anderson commented.”The signing updates the agreement that weve had in effect since 1995 and asks Jingdezhen to look at us as the primary educational institution they deal with in the United States.”

Anderson noted that, to his knowledge, the semester program will be the only one of its kind when it begins during the fall semester.”The semester program will allow people to spend the semester for credit in Jingdezhen, where they can work with faculty at the Institute, as well as local artisans and people from the manufacturing sector,”he explained.

He estimates that more than 100 students have traveled to Jingdezhen during WVU s summer study trips. The summer program, which will continue, has become known as the most comprehensive study and travel program in ceramics in the United States. Participants have ranged from ceramic students and professionals from across the nation and even as far away as Europe.

The first agreement between WVU and Jingdezhen dates back to the spring of 1995, when Jiansheng Li (ceramic artist from China) accompanied the President of Jingdezhen Institute, the head of its Art Department and an educational administrator from Beijing to WVU where they signed a formal agreement with College of Creative Arts Dean Phil Faini and WVU President Neil Bucklew establishing the exchange program. Dean Faini and members of the art faculty visited China in the summer of 1996 for the official dedication of the program.

For more information, visit the China summer and fall travel program Web site athttp://www.wvu.edu/~ccarts/china/chinaceramicsmain.htm.