Ceramic artist Zizipho Poswa is currently on a two month-long residency at the Center for Contemporary Ceramics (CCC) at California State University in Long Beach (CSULB).

Forming part of the CSULB Ceramic Arts faculty, the CCC operates alongside and in collaboration with the Ceramic Arts Programme and is “committed to the mission of fostering exchange, inquiry, creative production, and learning beyond the curriculum”. It brings together a diverse group of students, visiting artists, scholars and artists-in-residence “to expand the limits of their own work to the benefit of both the participants in the community and the broader community and field of contemporary ceramics”.

The origins of the CCC lie with Professor Tony Marsh, who back in 1985 began inviting guest artists and scholars to visit the CSULB ceramics area when he was an adjunct instructor. Today, he is an internationally celebrated artist and distinguished professor who has cultivated a culture of education, experience, collaboration and exchange that goes beyond the regular curriculum.

Visiting artists work alongside students and faculty as part of work-intensive programmes or ceramic projects that take place both on and off campus. Poswa will join the ever-growing list of over 200 artists and scholars (from about 20 different countries) who have participated, many of whom have returned multiple times. Others include Magdalene Odundo, Simone Leigh, Akio Takamori, Kukuli Velarde and Morten Løbner Espersen.

With assistance from Marsh and the center’s director Chris Miles, Poswa and her team have been able to work on a much larger scale. She is joined during her stay by two of her team members, Sandi and Terra, and thanks to the enormous magnitude of the kilns at CCC, Poswa will have the opportunity to scale up her work even further.