Ceramics

In 1966, American ceramicist Paul Soldner selected the site for what is now Anderson Ranch Arts Center, forming the foundation for a thriving ceramics program. Then and now, Anderson Ranch is a place where students exchange ideas and examine ceramic art and pottery techniques. It has always been a place where seminal moments of growth happen in an artist’s creative and critical thinking. Here, both beginning and emerging artists gain strong fundamental support, while established artists achieve new perspectives and advance their techniques.

The Ranch Ceramics team provides support, feedback and technical problem-solving, giving each artist the freedom to experiment and grow. Our primary focus is on personal advancement through a process of creative discovery.

The Soldner Ceramics Center makes up more than 10,000 square feet in three buildings with 3 studio spaces and 1 kiln yard; Soldner Studio, Long Studio, Sorenson Studio and Lyeth/Lyon Kiln Building. Soldner and Long studios are used for wheel-throwing, hand-building, or general ceramics creativity. Sorenson studio is equipped with five PotterBot 3d clay printers. The Lyeth/Lyon kiln building is equipped with gas, electric, soda and wood kilns for both oxidation and reduction firing at all temperature ranges. The Ranch offers three wood kilns including a gas/wood hybrid kiln, three gas reduction kilns, one soda kiln and eleven high-temperature electric kilns.

Anderson Ranch is happy to extend a 20% tuition discount* in summer one- or two-week adult workshops for NCECA members. Please email reg@andersonranch.org with your NCECA membership information and we will send you a code to register and access the discount. Discounts are not available retroactively. You are also welcome to call 970-924-5089 to register. *Please note that the NCECA discount does not apply to Advanced Mentored Studies programs or Destination Workshops, nor can it be combined with any other discount, scholarship or special offer. 

Joanne Seongweon Lee

Studio Coordinator, Ceramics

Originally from South Korea, Joanne Seongweon Lee received her BFA from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University with a concentration in Ceramics in 2015. After graduation, she moved back to South Korea for an Artist in Residence program at the Korea Ceramic Foundation: Icheon Cerapia. She completed an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2019 and achieved the Franz Rising Start Project Scholarship: Outstanding Performance in Porcelain Design in that same year. After graduating, she finished her Residency at Sonoma Ceramics in Sonoma, California. In 2021, Joanne taught numerous Ceramics courses for various levels at the James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

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Anderson Ranch Campus

Upcoming Workshops

resident ceramics handbuilding

    Jan 6 - 24, 2025
    Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM
    Participants may register for one, two, or three weeks
    TUITION is $1,110 per week or $3,300 for three weeks

    January Studio Sessions: Ceramics

    Joanne Seongweon Lee

    Tuition $1,110
    Code ZSC0101-25

    Anderson Ranch’s January Studio Sessions provide artists the opportunity to work on independent projects while receiving mentoring and critique sessions with Anderson Ranch artistic staff and interns. Each participant receives an assigned studio space, orientation, and access to equipment, as well as some morning group demonstrations and / or critiques. This program affords artists the experience enjoyed by national and international artists who access our state-of-the-art studios. Participants may expand their practices, take artistic risks, try new media or complete works for exhibition. *Studios are open 24 hours a day and on weekends for students enrolled in multiple weeks, with limited use of equipment due to safety requirements. The machine rooms are only available when monitored – weekdays 9 AM-5 PM. Evening monitoring hours are Mondays - Thursdays, 7 – 9 PM. IMPORTANT DETAILS: Students will be responsible for all material costs associated with their projects. Participants who register for multiple consecutive weeks will gain access to the studios on weekends (with the exception of the machine rooms due to safety constraints.) Private dorm rooms are available at Anderson Ranch for one, two or three weeks for an additional fee; click here to view January 2025 lodging options. TO APPLY: Applicants must submit project proposals or portfolios for approval. Contact Betsy Alwin to apply: [email protected]

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    • IV

      Level IV

      Students have advanced skills and knowledge of the ceramics field. Students are highly motivated, have a minimum of five years experience in the field and have a portfolio of their artwork. Typical students are academics and professional artists.

    Aug 4 - 15, 2025
    9AM - 5PM

    Advanced Mentored Studies: The Mold and Matrix: Ceramic Process and Narrative Form

    Ebitenyefa Baralaye, Del Harrow

    Tuition $2,250
    Code C1001-25

    This three-year mentorship program is intended for ceramic artists interested in critical feedback and immersion in a creative community and who are at a point of transition in their lives, careers, or artistic practices. Emphasis is placed on seeking connections, metaphors, and symmetries between processes for forming clay and developing ways of generating meaning. The objects we make tell stories and propose worlds; a coil and a mold are both techniques for forming clay and also propositions about the meaningful interface of material, body, mind, economy, and culture. We focus on ways stories emerge from physical objects and how narratives give structure to physical form. We welcome participants from many different backgrounds and experiences, centering on work in clay but with the potential for different outcomes, including work in other materials, writing, sculpture, and design. 2025 is the third year of this three-year intensive program. For more information about our next session of this Advanced Mentored Studies program, which begins in 2026, please contact Betsy Alwin, Visiting Director of Ceramics and Expanded Media at [email protected].  

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