Building With Clay and Steel

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]

Throughout art history, steel has been associated with industry, violence, and strength. This workshop challenges such connections by investigating ways steel can become visually delicate, and by inventing new meanings and visual relationships through combining steel with materials with opposite characteristics. Exercises address technical and creative inquiries regarding how steel is cut, shaped, and physically joined, and how to challenge material assumptions if steel becomes a secondary, rather than primary, compositional element. We explore the aesthetic and technical consequences of combining steel with soft, vulnerable, contradictory, and unexpected materials.

Enhance mold-making knowledge and skills in this fast-paced casting workshop. We focus on the physical and conceptual implications of casting multiples, sharing and discussing strategies many artists use to shape space and create meaning with the cast form. Students refine their skills, learning how to cast a variety of materials- including silicone, plaster, and foam. Along with demonstrations of different mold-making techniques, students learn best studio practices for economical and efficient casting processes. Participants leave with new skills and a broader understanding of the role of the cast form in contemporary art.