ART 237 - Foundations of Ceramics Art: Pottery and Purpose

This hands-on studio class will introduce students to the practice of making meaningful pottery for everyday use. Studio demonstrations will introduce ceramic handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques, surface decoration and firing. Lectures, discussions, field trips and readings will provide further context - framing pottery as a tool for grassroots organizing, mutual aid and community care. Students will study several historical and contemporary movements in craft activism including the Empty Bowls project and Potters for Peace, and use them as inspiration for their own projects. Emphasis will be placed on a model of the studio as an ecosystem; a collaborative, generative space that enhances human connection and relationship to the natural world. Learning will be assessed primarily through guided self-assessment and class participation. Every semester. (4 Credits)