The Clay Club is giving students a chance to further their art education and interact with the community.
The club creates all kinds of art – from pottery to sculptures – and they use some of the latest technology in ceramics.
The Clay Club, an organization separate from the ceramics department, works with ceramics and pottery for both pleasure and profit.
The student-run organization consists of about 35 members.
President Greg Pugh said the club is one of the most profitable student organizations on campus. Members sell their art to fund the club and they also receive general donations to pursue some of their ceramic endeavors. They have sales four times a year and use their profit in multiple ways.
Pugh said they use some of those funds to bring in artists and musicians.
‘In these sales, we generate a lot of funds,’ he said. ‘We use these funds to get four visiting artists a year.
Other art departments at the University also receive funds from the Clay Club.
The Clay Club sends a few members to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference every year. This year, they sent 11 students to Phoenix and plan to send students to Philadelphia for the conference next year.
The Clay Club also hosts multiple activities for students, including Tea Time, an artist lecture series. Although there are many ceramics artists who speak, Tea Time is not limited to just ceramics students. Sophomore Andrew Holman, the event coordinator for the Clay Club, is responsible for contacting local artists, grad students and faculty members to speak about their experiences and work.
‘We try to branch out in the art building to see other people in other areas,’ Holman said.
One of the goals of the Clay Club is to get members more involved in the community. Vice President Chelsea Lovelace says she takes pride in helping the club achieve their goals.
‘I enjoy having a leadership role in the studio and helping other students branch out into the community,’ she said.
Students interested in the Clay Club can attend a Tea Time held every Friday at 3:30 p.m. in room 1218 in the Fine Arts Center, the ceramics studio. The Clay Club’s next pottery and ceramics sale will be April 22 through 24.
