Students hoping to pursue ceramics at Brown currently have three options: They can brave the Byzantine process of joining a Rhode Island School of Design class, join an off-campus workshop or simply dream of pots unthrown, clay unglazed.
But a new Facebook group is trying to making it easier for Brown students to spin clay.
Unlike many of its peer institutions, Brown lacks a pottery studio. Professors in the Department of Visual Art said resources and safety-related issues have prevented the construction of a studio under their auspices.
Rachel McKenna '10.5, a visual art concentrator, started the group "Build a Pottery Studio at Brown!! Don't Lie. You Know You Want it!!!!" in December. The goal of the group, which had 106 members as of yesterday, is to create a pottery studio at Brown with non-credit classes for all Brown students and members of the Providence community.
"Ceramics is very stress-relieving," McKenna said. "It's like yoga for the hands." She added that pottery can help people become more creative.
McKenna said she hopes that a studio would attract prospective students to Brown.
"I think it would be fabulous. It would be a great idea," said Leslie Bostrom, associate professor of art. "But we already don't have enough space. ... Ceramics needs to be separated from other studios."
"It is a costly thing to set up," said Professor of Visual Art Richard Fishman, the department chair. "You have safety issues that need to be followed."
Fishman said a full-time professional and proper ventilation would be required because of safety issues. Working with clay and glaze can create silica dust, fine particles that can cause silicosis , a deadly lung disease.
Fishman said the visual art department has brought in ceramics materials in the past on a temporary basis. But establishing a pottery studio within the department would deprive it of other temporary studio space that it has set up in the past, including room for glassblowing and jewelry making.
McKenna said she thinks concerns about safety can be addressed with little extra cost and training.
"The general student body wouldn't be involved with the activities that would give you silicosis," McKenna said. "It's definitely something I think could be student-run."
Without any help from the department, McKenna is attempting to get the studio built using other resources. She said the group was looking for other locations on campus to build the studio, and it is currently applying for a grant from Brown's Creative Arts Council and looking for other sources of funding.
Many students were surprised to learn that Brown does not already have a pottery studio. Some students didn't think such a studio was necessary.
"I think there are higher-priority areas where Brown could allocate its funding," said Nicole Edgeworth '09.
The visual arts department directs students at Brown interested in ceramics to a RISD pottery studio.
"Ceramics is low on our priority list because RISD has it," Bostrom said. Cross-registration with RISD allows Brown students to take ceramics classes in a well-equipped studio.
"RISD has a great ceramics studio," McKenna said. "But you're not supposed to be in there when you're not involved with a class."
Access to the RISD pottery studio is more than what many of Brown's peer institutions can offer. For example, Yale students have limited access to a pottery studio, according to a Yale Web site.
But some of Brown's other peer institutions do have ceramics programs. Harvard's studio is extensive and open to the public, with 10,000 square feet of studio space. Harvard also offers independent study credit for its recreational classes. Providence College has a ceramics major in its art and art history department.
One option for Brown students is to take classes at the Steel Yard, a local non-profit art space.
"The Steel Yard has ceramics," McKenna said. "But it's pretty far away and most of the programs are in the summer."
