Tamara Laird

Surface Design & Form

Tamara Laird is Adjunct Professor of Ceramics at Corcoran College of Art & Design in Washington D.C. and the Rockville Arts Place in Rockville Maryland. Ms. Laird's classes cover the full range of ceramic techniques and she teaches all ages, from school age children to adults. She received a Bachelor of Fine Art from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island in 1982. She pursued further studies in ceramics at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont, Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina; Anderson Ranch, Colorado; and the Arts and Industry Workshop of the Kohler Company, Wisconsin. As a special student in the graduate program at R.I.S.D., Ms. Laird worked as a technical assistant teaching Moldmaking and Slipcasting as well as Decorative Ceramics.

Ms. Laird has a wide range of experience in working and studying overseas. Her focus has always been in finding the connection between local culture and artistic development. As a ceramics student, she traveled to England to meet Bernard Leach and other ceramists. While visiting Zaire in 1982, Ms. Laird developed a number of illustrated training guides for use by the U.S. Peace Corps. In 1984 she moved to Nairobi, Kenya, where she worked at the National Museums of Kenya on a project funded by the United Nations, and also as Professor of Art at Kenyatta University. In 1994, Ms. Laird moved to Bangkok, Thailand, with her family, where she carried out extensive research in local ceramics, including individual artists, traditional village production, and full-scale industrial ceramics factories. She was invited to participate in an educational tour for traditional northeastern Thai ceramics, sponsored by the Thai Government. Ms. Laird has also traveled in Mexico where she participated in a tour of ceramic factories that integrate traditional and contemporary industrial majolica production. In addition, Ms.Laird has spent time in Italy, visiting the U. Grazia Majolica Artistiche Artigianali factory in Deruta.

Ms. Laird is a native of Takoma Park, MD, where she maintains a ceramics studio. Her work has been featured in various national galleries and shows. Her work has won a number of awards and is included in many private collections.

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Visual Arts Program Faculty

Ceramics Program