Ceramics
Code: C0303-22
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Open to All
Students of any skill and knowledge level.
Form and Metaphor in Pots of Purpose
Jun 20 - Jul 1, 2022
9AM-5PM
Concept
This workshop provides a unique opportunity for students to develop their individual artistic voice using the material vocabulary of form, function, color and surface to create work that can evoke emotion, deliver poetic metaphor, make connections to cultural histories and resonate sentiment. Utilitarian ceramic objects are landmarks of the physical, emotional and relational topographies we use to navigate our lived stories around food, self and each other. As thoughtful makers, students consider the larger purposes served by their work, incorporating layers of meaning. Students are not just making bowls to hold soup–they build receptive space into experience, to find moments of compassion and generosity in a handheld vessel. Students refine their works through dialogue, drawings and writings while exploring methods such as pinching, coiling, throwing and altering, solid prototyping, press molding and reductive shaping. Special attention is given to the development of color and surface qualities through creative glaze chemistry experiments that are grounded in scientific methodology, but driven by artistic intuition.
Media
Pottery, wheel-throwing, hand-building, mid-range porcelain, glazes, electric fire to cone 6
Supply ListFaculty
Gwendolyn Yoppolo
Gwendolyn Yoppolo transforms perception by creating ceramic objects and multisensory food events. She earned an MFA from Penn State, an MA from Columbia University, and a BA in Sociology from Haverford College. A passionate educator, writer and researcher as well as a maker, Gwendolyn is currently Associate Professor of Ceramics at Kutztown University.
Join Waitlist for Form and Metaphor in Pots of Purpose
Thank you for your interest in the waitlist. When space in a workshop or program becomes available, registration will open on the website. Everyone on the waitlist will be emailed to alert them of the opening. This ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity to register for the workshop or program.
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@
Workshop Details>
Supply List
Many of the items you'll need are available in the ArtWorks Store. Please click "View Full Supply List" to see a comprehensive list of items you'll need for this workshop.
Ceramic Glazing Brushes & Tools
Ceramic Tool Kit
Metal rib
Notebook
Writing Utensil
Lodging & Meals
Housing is limited and includes shared and private lodging options. Reservations will be managed on a first-come, first-served basis. The earlier you reserve housing, the better your chance of receiving your preferred option. Please note: Workshop costs do not include accommodations.
We have established a Business Safety Plan with added layers of precaution that prioritize the health and safety of our staff, students, faculty and guests while continuing to provide you with the Anderson Ranch experience that you know and enjoy.
The Ranch Café meal plan that is included with Room and Board fees strives to provide healthy, creative meals that will nourish your artistic creativity. The meal plan includes 5 days of continental breakfasts that will include a hot offering, 5 lunches with a selection of offerings, and 5 dinners.
Scholarships, College Credit & Discounts
Making Art Accessible
Applications for scholarship support are encouraged. Specific scholarships are funded by Ranch supporters, either through endowed funds or special gifts.
Many colleges and universities offer college credit for workshops taken at Anderson Ranch. Discounts are available for students and teachers.
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Code ZSC0101-25
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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].