Ceramics Takes on New Shapes

Fine Arts class enrollments have surged with the new schedule implemented for the 2022-2023 school year, and ceramics classes are among the big bene ciaries.

Ceramics 1, Ceramics 2 and Advanced Ceramics are each semester-long Upper School Fine Arts electives.

Ceramics 1 is an introductory course that teaches students di erent design elements, such as lines, shapes, texture and color. e class gives students a chance to work with pottery and sculpture. It also allows them to learn about notable gures who have shaped the cra

Students are also introduced to handbuilding methods such as pinch, coil and slabs. From this, they move on to work with the cra of wheel-thrown pottery. roughout this course, students work with clay at all stages, wet to red.

“Learning how to use clay and working through a lot of di erent methods when I took ceramics was di cult,” said junior So a Serrano. “Taking ceramics online probably took a lot away from the actual technique that went into it, but it was always fun to learn how to express myself with my hands.”

Once students complete Ceramics 1, they can then take Ceramics 2, which gives students more independence to work on their own with student-driven projects. Like Ceramics 1, Ceramics 2 is a clay-focused course, but students in Ceramics 2 now have more of a chance to showcase their individuality.

“I wanted to take Ceramics 2 last year, but I did not know what it would look like post-COVID,” Serrano said. “I regret that decision because I think it would have helped me polish my abilities.”

Even though students start to move at their own pace in Ceramics 2, they consistently interact with each other to maintain a healthy classroom environment, said junior Zoë Dzialowski. Because they are a orded more independence, they o en learn to depend on their peers, Dzialowski said.

“ e environment when I took Ceramics 2 was very encouraging and allowed for us to make mistakes and gure out how to x them,” said Dzialowski. “We also did a lot of experimenting with di erent types of ceramics like coil building, slab building and working on the wheel. ose are some key skills I learned, and I also learned not everything has to be perfect to look good and that accidents can make pieces look even better.”

Advanced Ceramics gives students a chance to explore and move completely at their own pace to create art in a more independent manner. Choosing how they express themselves and what they want to focus on a ords students more exibility.

The environment when I took Ceramics 2 was very encouraging and allowed for us to make mistakes and figure out how to fix them.”

“For the advanced class, it’s a little bit di erent where, with each level, there’s more and more independence in what they’re doing,” said Upper School 3-D Art teacher Erik Tosten. “So, by the time that they’re in Advanced Ceramics, they’re proposing their projects and creating their own portfolios. And I’m really just a facilitator of those goals.”

“We draw sketches before each project in both classes and there are elements of sculpture in ceramics,” said junior Elizabeth Mann. Ceramics also teaches students skills that can be incorporated into other mediums of art. Mann is now in Advanced Ceramics and Advanced Sculpture and believes that there are many points of intersection between the two classes.

For the advanced class, it’s a little bit different where, with each level, there’s more and more independence in what they’re doing.”

Some key di erences between ceramics and sculpture are the materials that are used. In Advanced Ceramics, the primary medium is clay. In Advanced Sculpture, students can use anything from cardboard to wax.

Senior Katie Stone is in both Advanced Ceramics and Advanced Sculpture.

“Typically, we’re working on one of our big projects of this semester… and so, I’m basically just working on whatever process I’m in the middle of,” Stone said. “Today I was cutting out cardboard, and that’s for sculpture.” ere are many students who are in both courses at the most advanced level.

“Ceramics is a sculpture process,” Tosten said. “ ey’re just di erent techniques, di erent approaches. Ceramics is very additive and subtractive, whereas every sculpture process we do is primarily additive. So, you’re adding materials, joining them together, but it de nitely gives us a lot more variety.”

As a result, students nd themselves working with a variety of materials while working together.

Ceramics is a sculpture process. They’re just different techniques, different approaches. Ceramics is very additive and subtractive.” e environment in the classroom was lled with creativity and originality, and it was super fun to watch me and my classmates’ work progress throughout the semester,” said Mann.