La Meridiana Scuola di Ceramica - Certaldo, Città Metropolitana di Firenze

Valentina F.

Secondo corso per me in questa scuola. Sempre molto positivo il mio giudizio, innanzitutto per il livello dei docenti e poi per l’accoglienza e il cibo ottimi. Questa volta ho seguito Craig Underhill, un ceramista che aspettavo in Italia
da tempo e che ho sempre ammirato. Il suo corso ha risposto in pieno alle aspettative, con dimostrazioni di diverse tecniche e tanti stimoli visivi. Molto presente e sempre attento nello svolgersi del lavoro. Lo consiglio vivamente.

Ульяна Федотова

Il posto fantastico!

Regina Betancourt

La Meridiana is truly one of the most beautiful places to study ceramics. Being in the Tuscan countryside, surrounded by passionate people who are just as obsessed with the medium as you are, is a remarkable experience. I’ve always had the best experiences at La Meridiana. I’ve visited the school three years in a row, which should say a lot and why I’ve decided to write this review bc I have plenty of history! I save all year just to go back. Every teacher is an expert in their field, and you learn so much while meeting people from all over the world. I’ve made great friends, both students and faculty, and I’ve always felt safe and comfortable during my time there. Honestly I miss it all the time. The lunch and coffee breaks are such a bonus! The food is great and you get a moment to sit and enjoy the company of your fellow colleagues. I couldn’t recommend La Meridiana more to anyone. Whether you’re just starting out, wanting to learn something new, or exploring different techniques in a craft you already know—go. Go! Browse the courses and find something that sparks your interest and imagination. From one fellow ceramic nut to another, have the best time!

Drew Smith

Enjoying your stay at La Meridiana is about having the right expectations. Do not expect to be treated with respect or common decency by the owner Pietro Maddalena. Do not expect to go your entire stay without being called stupid by the owner Pietro Maddalena. Do not expect the owner Pietro Maddalena to actually listen to any feedback. You should expect to be demeaned by Pietro if you have to interact with him.

The best that can be said about our stay is that our interactions with Pietro during our time at La Meridiana were thankfully limited. He was not a teacher in our course. He does teach courses here. It is clear he has ultimate authority over everyone who works at La Meridiana. It is painful to say because we had such high expectations for this retreat but at this time, I am not sure I will ever return while Pietro is still actively involved with the school.

Sasha -

Unlicensed teaching staff and poor management of long-term classes. Teachers are highly skilled, yet often lack basic interpersonal skills to manage challenging classroom dynamics, are not able to accurately relay information to students and fail to create a safe/supportive learning environment. It’s very rare you find a teacher at La Meridiana who is not only skilled, but also capable of relating and communicating healthily to students. If you have an issue with teachers or your experience, there is no one to discuss that with due to the fact that they do not take reviews of the program (I’ve asked) and the staff is quite obviously not interested in hearing concerns about their programs or staff. It is clear that they do not want feedback or involve themselves in solving conflicts within their own school. When I asked for help from staff when I was there for three months, I was told “this is the way things work and if you cannot tolerate teachers who yell then you should not be doing pottery.” This was said by the director of the school. My teacher had lashed out at me several times over the course of my time there (3 months)and I felt alone because staff refused to intervene or talk to my instructor about inappropriate conduct. That is a scary position to be in and staff was not empathetic in the least. I was alone as a young woman living in a foreign country and felt I had no protection from my school, which I was paying $18,000 to attend. I felt unsafe, and I felt staff did not take proper measures to protect me as a student. The director told me that I need to solve the issue myself and that the school does it involve themselves in “politically correct teaching” when I asked for help. Extremely out of line and inappropriate behavior I experienced at the school and I am positive I’m not the only one. I’ve seen no negative reviews on any platforms, yet I’ve talked to so many people with similar experiences, so I’m leaving my own. The school, which I have visited twice over several years, and many months, reads to me as an insular community that does not tolerate change or adaptation. I was told that staff being trained on how to mitigate challenging classroom dynamics was “politically correct teaching” which has no place at La Meridiana, again this is straight from the directors mouth. Ultimately La Meridiana will not protect the experiences of its students or refund money or offer compensation if you need to leave early due to issues that are the school’s responsibility. There was so much more that occurred that I cannot even write here, but if this review allows one person to not commit to this program, I’m happy. I paid over $18,000, which was money in as able to put away from a family member passing for graduate school, and I used it for this course at La Meridiana, and I regret every penny. It was a waste of money and time, and did not help me grow as an artist. Would not recommend. The food was good and the school was pretty, but not worth the ugly and toxic learning environment.

Anna Szostak

Such a wonderful experience! The course, localization, food and organization were amazing. I joined the two weeks throwing course with Franco Rampi. He’s a great teacher and very experienced ceramist.
This course is good both for people who who wants to improve or learn pottery.

Joe Allanoff

This was quite literally the worst trip I have ever had in my life. The pictures online are NOT where you will be staying. They had me stay in a pool closet with a sauna inside and a serious lack of privacy/safety. Many students had complained of sewage pipes breaking in their units causing horrendous smells and nothing was done to fix it. Pictures attached of the room I stayed in. Needless to say, I left early.

Nadine Lawson

Great training course with Lucas Tripaldi "White gold to wear" !
Very interesting different techniques to make jewellry, lovely models to realise and a nice teacher very kind, patient and generous !!
And in such a lovely place in Toscany