Ceramics Program + Studio Information

Class + Workshop Tuition

Tuition covers the cost of VisArts classes and workshops. We don’t usually offer makeups for missed days. You may contact Education Director Emily Fucello to see if a makeup can be scheduled with another teacher during the enrolled session, but we can’t guarantee makeups.

Open Studio

Open Studio – time when our ceramics studios are open for independent practice – is included with your tuition.

Students MUST schedule Open Studio time on Sign Up Genius.

Firing Passes

Students who have ceramics studios at home may purchase monthly or multi-month firing passes.

Students with firing passes aren’t eligible for Open Studio but may schedule time to use studio glazes on Sign Up Genius.

Materials + Tools

Students must purchase clay from VisArts. We sell a variety of clay bodies, including:

B-Mix (White)
Clayer White 563 (White)
Standard Clay 266 (Dark Brown)
Standard Clay 308 (Brooklyn Red)
Standard Clay 553 (Off White)
Soldate 60 (Off White)

This list may change, depending on what’s available from our suppliers. Learn more about these clays and see if we have others available for purchase in our Clay Shop.

If you buy clay online before your class, please see if it’s on the cart in the Floor 3 hallway (labeled with your name). If it’s not there, check with Education staff in the Administrative Office and we’ll get it for you.

VisArts provides some basic studio tools. However, if you’d like your own, you can purchase a set of beginner’s tools from our Clay Shop or in the Administrative Office.

Type, Quantity + Size of Student Work

VisArts is an educational facility. We’re not a production studio, and we don’t allow production work.

Students may glaze up to 1250 cubic inches per session. Students who exceed this amount must pay an overage fee of $0.05 per square inch.

Work shouldn’t exceed 14 inches in length, 14 inches in width, and 18 inches in height. Larger pieces need prior approval and will be accommodated as kiln space allows; they’ll usually take longer to move through the bisque and firing process.

Storage

We assign students one storage shelf for the duration of each class. Students who aren’t taking a class in the next session must take work, tools, and leftover clay home; items left behind will be discarded before the next session starts.

Bisque + Wet Work

VisArts fires bisque work to Cone 5.

When students finish their work, they may place ready-to-be-bisqued pieces on the shelf in the outside kiln room. Since every bisque kiln is run with a preheat, pieces don’t need to be completely dry – but they must be dry enough to not be deformed when moved.

Please don’t move other student’s pieces on the bisque (greenware) shelves. If there’s no room for your pieces, let our Education staff know and we’ll make space.

Students may make work wet (new pieces) up until the last two weeks of class, to ensure that pieces will be finished by the last day of class. Students who are taking a class in the next session may continue to make wet work up until the last two weeks of that class.

Glazing

VisArts glazes to Cone 5 with a 15-minute hold, which allows the temperature to reach Cone 6.

Glazes are kept in the Glaze Room and may only be used during scheduled class time or by appointment.
Students may only use commercial glazes with permission from their instructor.
Pieces won’t be fired unless you completely fill out a glaze ticket – no exceptions. Finished pieces are placed on the shelf in the Glaze Room.

Beginners must wait until their instructor demonstrates glazing (usually a week or two before class ends). Glaze isn’t paint and students must understand the basics of glaze application to avoid problems.

Improperly glazed pieces will be placed on the “problem shelf” and won’t be fired. If this happens, see if your instructor or a glaze technician can help you fix the problem. Once the issue is resolved, place the piece on the glazeware shelf.
If the glaze is too close to, or on, the bottom of a pot, the piece will be placed on the “problem shelf.” If this happens, clean up the bottom and put the pot back on the glazeware shelf.
If a glazed piece has an issue with running, sheeting – or anything that affects the kiln shelves – it will be marked with a “glaze issue” sticker. If this occurs, discuss the piece with your instructor or a ceramics technician so you can learn from the experience and avoid repeating it.

Cleanup Procedures

It’s very important to keep VisArts’ studios, classrooms, and glaze areas clean.

Clay and glaze left on floors or other surfaces will dry into a fine, nearly invisible silica dust that will be circulated and suspended indefinitely in the air.

Although this isn’t a problem for visitors, silica dust can cause health problems for faculty, students, and staff who spend a lot of time working in the studios, classrooms, and glaze areas.

Please bring studio shoes to wear while you’re in the ceramics studios – and change back into your “street shoes” when you’re done working. There are shoe racks outside of the ceramics studios for students’ use. This practice cuts down on the amount of clay and silica dust that’s tracked through other areas in our building.

Anyone working with clay or glaze at VisArts must thoroughly clean their trimmings and spills before they become dust.

Follow these guidelines:

Don’t sand bisque (greenware) in studios or classrooms.
Never discard clay in the sink. Pour off water and put heavy slip in large slop buckets; carefully place the buckets in the sink.
Thoroughly clean wheels, catch pans, benches, stools, tables, and bats; then, put them away.
Make sure clean wheels are turned off.
Turn stools upside down on the wheel head and place the foot pedal on the wheel. This demonstrates that the wheel was properly cleaned and makes mopping up easier.
Scrape and clean wedging and plaster tables after using them.

Discover More

Ready to give ceramics a spin? Here are some great ways to get started: