Students sell ceramics for equipment
The Utah State University ceramics guild is hosting a ceramics sale and show this weekend in an effort to raise funds for the guild and to allow the students to display their work, said Joe Davis, ceramics studio coordinator.
The event is held semiannually and in previous years was located in the Taggart Student Center, Davis said. However, this year the event will be held in the Fine Arts building where each student will have a place to design a display for their work. About 25 students will be participating.
“We wanted the students to consider the display of their work,” Davis said.
The event sale was hosted in the Fine Arts building for the first time in November of last year and sales nearly doubled, Davis said. Last semester’s show brought in about $10,000 and in previous shows they usually sold a little less than half that, he said.
“It really feels more like an open house,” Davis said.
The ceramics guild is run by the students, and the students collaborate on how to use the funds. The ceramics guild provides all of the machines and other equipment for the program at Utah State, Davis said.
“Students’ contributions make this such a strong program and promotes the idea of community,” Davis said.
The guild focused more for this sale on advertising than they have in the past, Davis said. He said the guild posted signs around Logan and surrounding areas and ran advertisements on Utah Public Radio.
The pieces vary in shape, size and color, but most of them are functional, said Matt Conlon, junior in ceramics. Each piece has been shaped, glazed and fired, he said.
“A pretty famous saying in ceramics is ‘Each piece takes five minutes and 25 years,'” he said.
Conlon has been making pottery for more than eight years and had a few dozen pieces in this year’s show, he said.
Alix Brodeur said she likes seeing other people get excited about pottery because it is so important in her life. It is a great time to buy gifts with Mother’s Day and the wedding season approaching, she said. Brodeur is a transfer student from Massachusetts and said she came to Utah State because it has such a strong ceramics program.
The show opened Thursday night and will continue Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Fine Arts building, room 121. It is open to the public.
–seth.bracken@aggiemail.usu.edu
The ceramics guild is selling their work throughout the weekend in order to provide machines and equipment for USU’s program. (CODY GOCHNOUR photo)