Rate My Professor Heather Mae Erickson

Heather Mae Erickson serves as Associate Professor, Ceramics Coordinator, and advisor to the Mudcats Ceramics Club in the School of Art and Design at Western Carolina University, part of the David Orr Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art (2004) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Crafts, Ceramics, and Art Education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia (2000). Since joining Western Carolina University in 2014 as Assistant Professor and Head of Ceramics, she has advanced her career there. Previously, Erickson was the Robert Chapman Turner Teaching Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor at Alfred University's New York State College of Ceramics (2009-2012), sabbatical replacement at the University of Colorado Boulder (2013-2014), and adjunct instructor at institutions including Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Red Rocks Community College, Colorado Mountain College Aspen Campus, Arapahoe Community College, Rowan University, Arcadia University, and the University of the Arts.

Her research interests include ceramics, design, sculpture, education, curation, writing, entrepreneurship, and engaged scholarship, with specialization in prototyping, mold-making, and slip-casting. As a community-engaged artist, designer, educator, and curator, she leads in ceramics nationally and internationally, particularly as a mold maker and slip caster. Notable contributions include curating the “Contemporary Clay: A Survey of Contemporary American Ceramics” exhibition and symposium at the WCU Fine Art Museum in 2016. She developed the Pride Pots: Community Conversations project to promote LGBTQ+ visibility and fund scholarships. Awards include election to the International Academy of Ceramics (2011), first-place Hunter Douglas Horizon Award from the Museum of Arts and Design (2004), honorable mentions at the World Ceramic Biennale Korea (2007, 2009), Independence Fellowship for Guldagergaard residency (2009), Fulbright to Aalto University (2004-2005), and summer residency at Archie Bray Foundation. Key publications comprise “Setting the Table: Completing the Story” (Ceramics Monthly, 2015), “(My) Parts and (My) Wholes” (Studio Potter, 2011), and features in American Craft Magazine.