TEACHING
FACE JUGS
COIL-BUILDING ASSIGNMENTProject Description:
Students learn about Face Jugs, unique American pottery forms practiced by Enslaved potters in the mid-1800’s in the Edgefield, South Carolina region. Students then use coil-building and pinching methods to create a contemporary interpretation of a face jug that expresses something about their identity.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students learn how to wedge clay, hand-roll and weld coils together, use the extruder, and score + slip components together. They use a combination of colored slips and glazes to finish the surface of their work in either ^6 electric or ^10 gas kilns.
IMAGE TO OBJECT
SLAB-BUILDING ASSIGNMENT
Project Description:
Objects are constantly translated into images through photography, painting, and drawing. In this assignment, students flip the script by transforming a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional object in clay.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students learn how to roll slabs by hand with a rolling pin, use the slab roller, attach slabs together, and sculpt in low relief. They use a combination of colored slips and glazes to finish the surface of their work in either ^6 electric or ^10 gas kilns.
NO BASE
CERAMICS ASSIGNMENTProject Description:
Students create a ceramic object that can be moved and viewed in multiple orientations. Students choose which techniques to use in their work, with an emphasis on timing, moisture regulation, surface treatment, and firing strategy.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students pull from their technical toolbox of coil-building, pinching, slab-building, and wheel-throwing to build their assignment. They must treat the entire surface, which requires them to design their form, glaze selectively, and use slips or stains on kiln-shelf contact surfaces.
STILL LIFE
CERAMICS ASSIGNMENT
Project Description:
Students create a collection of ceramic objects that represent the tools and relics a trade, skill, hobby, or profession.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students use hand-pinching and solid sculpting techniques to create multiple objects. They use a combination of colored slips and glazes to finish the surface of their work in either ^6 electric or ^10 gas kilns.
BOWLS
WHEEL-THROWING ASSIGNMENTProject Description:
Students begin throwing on the potter’s wheel by making bowls and trimming foot rings.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students learn how to “cone”/wheel-wedge, center, and pull the walls out to form wide, curved interiors. When their bowls are leather-hard, students learn to center them and trim foot rings. Bowls are finished with slips, stains, and cone 10 glazes in the gas kiln.
CYLINDERS
WHEEL-THROWING ASSIGNMENT
Project Description:
Students expand their wheel-throwing skills by making cylinders and practicing different trimming techniques.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students learn how to “cone”/wheel-wedge, center, compress the bottom, and pull vertical walls to form cylinders. When their cylinders are leather-hard, students learn to center them and trim feet that suit their vessel forms (foot rings, flat bottoms, notched feet, et cetera). Cylinders are finished with slips, stains, and cone 10 glazes in the gas kiln.
SGRAFFITO TILES
CERAMIC SURFACE TECHNIQUE ASSIGNMENTProject Description:
Sgraffito is a decorating technique in which layers of color are applied to a surface and then scratched through to reveal the color underneath. Students use the sgraffito technique to create high-contrast designs on tiles.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students are given earthenware tiles, white underglaze, carving tools, and a paintbrush. The tiles are then clear-glazed and fired to ^04 in an electric kiln.
FOOD SCULPTURE
3D FOUNDATIONS ASSIGNMENT
Project Description:
Students sculpt a dish of food, choosing foods with nostalgic, symbolic, or other meaningful associations. They create a dish to present their chosen foods, choosing forms that generate a meaningful composition.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students use clay and sculpting tools to create food elements with a combination of additive and reductive techniques, solid sculpting, hollowing, scoring and slipping, and surface texture. Students use the slab roller and slump-molds to create their dishes. Everything is made separately and dipped in white pooling glaze, fusing their compositions together in the kiln and unifying their surfaces.
STOP-MOTION VIDEOS
INTERDISCIPLINARY ASSIGNMENTProject Description: Students produce 60-second stop motion videos with original narratives and audio components.
Tools/Technologies Used: Students use polymer clay, the Stop Motion app, and various video and audio editing softwares (Adobe Premiere, iMovie, Windows Media Editor) to create their videos.
OBJECT TRANSFORMATION
3D FOUNDATIONS ASSIGNMENT
Project Description:
Students transform the surface of an object, exploring how alterations change the perception of the thing. By giving the surface a new skin, students create works that question or negate the original function of the object.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students select their own found object and the material they will use to treat the surface. They learn attachment techniques using hardware, adhesives, and sewing.
WIRE - LINE & VOLUME
3D FOUNDATIONS ASSIGNMENTProject Description:
Students use wire (line) to create a three-dimensional drawing of a recognizable, manmade object.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students manipulate light, medium, and heavyweight wire using needle nose and round nose pliers. They use different attachment techniques and define the volume of their objects using contour lines, cross contour lines, and density.
SOFT SCULPTURE - FORM & SURFACE
3D FOUNDATIONS ASSIGNMENT
Project Description:
Students create a soft sculptural form that includes at least 2 different fabrics using microorganisms as inspiration.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students learn fundamentals of hand sewing and working with fabric, including the five basic stitches (running stitch, backstitch, whipstitch, blanket stitch, and ladder stitch), designing a pattern, cutting fabric, and stuffing with polyester fiber fill.
DESIGNING THE 2x4
3D FOUNDATIONS / WOOD SHOP ASSIGNMENTProject Description:
Students use a single 2’ x 4’ x 8’ piece of pine lumber to create a product that highlights characteristics of the wood, considering functionality and aesthetics. Surface finishes are limited to white paint and/or linseed oil.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students learn to use the chop saw, table saw, and band saw, how to join with wood glue and nails/clamps, and techniques for sanding and finishing.
WRAPPED HUMAN BODY
INTERDISCIPLINARY ASSIGNMENT
Project Description:
Student cover or enclose a body in paper, fabric, or other soft material. They communicate content and meaning through their wrapping materials, technique, gesture of the body, and placement of the body in a space. Students also produce an artist statement to accompany their final work.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students are introduced to performance art, staging, and digital photography. They enclose a human body with their chosen materials, presenting safety considerations and challenges of movement and restriction. Students learn how composition, perspective, and cropping techniques affect the tone of their work.
THE WHITE CUBE
DIGITAL / FOUNDATIONS ASSIGNMENTProject Description:
Students select objects that may not traditionally belong in a gallery setting and virtually place them in a gallery setting. They examine the function of gallery display to elevate art objects and isolate them in viewing space.
Tools/Technologies Used:
Students create their own high-quality digital photographs of objects. Using select/mask tools in Photoshop, they combine their objects with clean stock photographs to create a facetious gallery display.
