Students Hit the Studio During Jan Term’s Ceramics for Beginners
The Jan Term course Ceramics for Beginners engaged students with the difficult art of wheel-throwing pottery last month. For three weeks, they learned how to throw, trim, and glaze pieces at Merritt Ceramics in Oakland with the help of expert ceramicists and English Department Professor Emily Klein. Students’ studies ventured beyond the craft of making pottery into the realm of critical discussion surrounding the art form. The class ended the term with handcrafted pieces and a newfound curiosity in the discourse surrounding the centuries-old tradition of pottery making.
When they entered the studio during the second week of classes, students were shown the basics of centering and shaping their pieces. Members of the class became mesmerized—if they had not been already—by the hypnotizing work of wheel-throwing. The compelling nature of the work is exactly why Professor Klein chose to teach the class. “I started taking pottery classes in grad school when I needed a way to clear my head and escape the pressure cooker of studying for my doctoral comprehensive exams,” she shared. “What I discovered in class totally exceeded my expectations; beyond just indulging my corny retro-vintage DIY fantasies, I found that throwing pottery on the wheel is deeply meditative, challenging, and addictive.”
Bianca Guzman ’21 is the newest person to share Klein’s enthusiasm. “One of my favorite parts of the class was the hands-on creation of pieces, from wheel-throwing to glazing,” she said. “Ceramics is an art form that I’ve always wanted to do but never really had the access to until this course.
Students in this course were first introduced to ceramics by examining the work of Kari Marboe featured in the exhibit Kari+Keith in SMC’s Museum of Art. Although the first week took place in an online format, students learned how to hand-form pieces from instructional videos made by the artist to go along with the exhibit. This unit of the class introduced a key idea that followed students into the studio: Any piece of ceramic work has meaning beyond its outward appearance. Location, intention, and creativity all came together in the creation of their work. This idea was further enhanced by a trip to the de Young museum in San Francisco, readings from political activists and artists involved with ceramic work, and a final project that encouraged students to look deeper into one aspect of pottery.
The length and focus of the course gave students the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in ceramic art. Klein shared that she “love[s] sharing wheel-throwing with SMC students because Jan Term provides just the right context to take a really interdisciplinary approach to ceramics. It’s an art form that relies on equal parts environmental science, physics, chemistry, design, aesthetics, physical strength, and muscle memory.
“In our class we also get to investigate the artists, craft communities, cultural histories, politics, and geographies that make up the legacy of contemporary ceramics, so the course operates at the nexus of all these different approaches, which I love,” Klein added.
Guzman appreciated the diverse aspects of class. “I was able to gain not just a new ability to engage with a new medium of art but also insight on the ceramics community and the deep history surrounding the art form,” she said. “I also really enjoyed the resource process for my final project. I learned so much about ceramics besides just how to create pieces because of the way Professor Klein built the course. We got to go on museum trips and did a lot of interesting reading on the history of pottery and the work of artists in the field. Overall, I’m very glad to have taken this course; I really value everything I was able to learn this month.”
Regarding the future of ceramics at SMC, Klein says her “dream is that SMC will one day get the funding to establish its own pottery studio—I can already hear the interdisciplinary lecture series titles playing in my head!”
Photos by Francis Tatem.