Pottery is a tactile and versatile art medium that heightens the mind body relationship, provides both immediate and delayed gratification, and develops skills for participants in control, aesthetic design, the relation between function and form, and patience. While the creation of pottery is one of the oldest and simplest forms of art, newcomers to pottery are often intimidated by the steep learning curve that exists for mastery of the material, time necessary for completion of projects (start to finish), and specialized tools and equipment that are required. For agents that wish to offer these programs in their communities, barriers can become even more evident. Often, there is overwhelming community interest that Agents aren’t equipped to accommodate.

The Community Arts Program overall has been expanding across the state in recent years. With this expansion, including the acquisition of new staff with specialized skills, program offerings have also increased. It is natural that programs in each county are customized to county needs, facility constraints, and Agent abilities. Because of these limitations, pottery classes are not currently offered in every Community Arts county. 

The first Kentucky county to offer pottery workshops through Arts Extension was Wayne County, around 2011, taught by their Arts Program Assistant who has a background in ceramics. Wayne County Community Arts currently offers one or two-day pottery workshops in hand-building, wheel-throwing, and glazing, in addition to a clay club that meets regularly. 

In Whitley County, Extension’s acquisition of a downtown building, that would become a Community Arts Center, provided the space required for pottery equipment. Approximately 10 years ago, the Arts Agent there began offering “Open Pottery”, a loosely structured way for those that had prior experience in clay to have studio access. A pottery club was also formed. Realizing the need for structured studio systems and maintenance, the Agent requested support from the newly hired state-level Arts Associate, who in Fall 2021, brought their extensive pottery experience to Whitley County for a training in Plaster Pouring and Clay Recycling. Soon after, they were able to begin offering beginning and intermediate-level pottery classes that cover hand-building, wheel-throwing, sculpture and glazing in both 6 and 12-week format.

In late 2022, the Pike County Arts Agent received a donation of an electric kiln but had limited experience in its use. Again, the Arts Associate was called in to conduct a Kiln Training in Pike County in February 2023 for Pike County to obtain more information on what would be required for the development of a pottery program in their county.

2022 also brought newly hired Community Arts Program Assistants in Boone and Bullitt Counties and a surge in community requests for pottery classes and a pottery club in Greenup County. A Kentucky State University Community Arts Extension hire for Western KY, based in Bowling Green, once again, invigorated interest in pottery, due to their background in the medium.

In Spring 2024, a Clay Committee was formed, consisting of the Whitley and KSU Extension Agents, Wayne County Program Assistant, and the state-level Extension Associate to plan and implement a one-day, in person, in-service workshop, to be held at Whitley County Community Arts Center in April. A pre-survey collected data on each Community Art County’s readiness in offering pottery classes. Results showed the Community Arts Program had two county agents actively offering classes, one agent with extensive pottery experience, but no dedicated studio space, and four counties with Agents or Assistants with desire to offer pottery classes, at varying degrees of readiness, in terms of their own skill in the medium, confidence in workshop delivery, and dedicated studio space. One goal for the training was to provide agents/assistants training in alternatives to “firing clay”, which can be substituted for low investment and give agents the ability to offer “pottery” classes without the use of a kiln and glazes, that would be especially beneficial to agents who lacked dedicated studio space. 

The Pottery In-Service was successful in providing Community Arts Extension Agents and Program Assistants with a fundamental understanding of all aspects of the pottery-making process, increased production and facilitation skill and confidence, and furthered their readiness to offer pottery courses or expand their pottery offerings. It provided immersive and hands-on experiences in hand-building, wheel throwing, trimming, clay recycling, glazing, kiln operation, alternatives to “firing” clay, and workshop planning. 

Post-survey results showed that 75% of participants reported increases in individual pottery skills such as centering, wheel-throwing, trimming, clay recycling and general studio maintenance. Those individual skills and confidence increased by an average of 24% from all participants. 87.5% of participants reported increases in their confidence using clay as an expressive medium, structuring and planning pottery workshops and being able to lead or present pottery workshops. Some of the biggest takeaways reported were that “Clay isn’t as intimidating as I thought!” and the revelation that “There are a variety of ways to teach pottery skills, especially with alternative clays.” Agents with prior experience in clay reported the benefits of collaborating with other Community Arts staff to gather insights, discuss new ideas and work through common issues.

Momentum for Community Arts Ceramics has been building across the state and culminated in the 2024 Pottery In-Service. Agents and Assistants have been empowered and the resources shared will continue to advance pottery programming in Kentucky counties to meet community demand in the coming years.