The ceramics program at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design offers an immersive, hands-on experience with clay. Explore your creative interests through forms ranging from functional vessels to expressive ceramic sculpture. As you experiment and create, you’ll build strong technical skills, develop a thoughtful conceptual foundation, and deepen your understanding of art history. The program also encourages critical engagement with contemporary art, helping you grow into a confident and informed artist.
Become a creative clay artist
Choose from three dynamic degree paths
Your space for building and making—24 hours a day
Housed in both the Fine Arts Building and Studio Arts Annex, the ceramics facilities feature private studios for B.F.A. and M.F.A. students—open 24 hours a day—as well as a variety of electric, wood, salt, and soda kilns, as well as 2 Geil Autodamper controlled kilns.
In shared classroom spaces, ceramics students meet together for seminars, critiques, presentations, and demonstrations by visiting artists. Because the Fine Arts Building also houses six other studio areas, students can easily collaborate with students and faculty from other disciplines. Ceramics spaces also include a shared plaster room, a materials and glaze room, a shop area for wood and metal fabrication, computer stations, a kiln room, and a clay mixing room.
Tools + Equipment
Studio Arts Annex
- 12 electric kilns
—1 Amaco front loader, 1 large Fredrickson Front loader, 2 small Cress, 2 Skutt test kilns, 2 cress test kilns, 1 Skutt 1027, 1 Skutt 1227, 2 ConeArt - Geil gas kiln with autodamper controller, 100 cu ft
- Geil gas kiln with autodamper controller, 30 cu ft
- Downdraft soft brick gas kiln, 12 cu ft
- Small gas test kiln, 3 cu ft
- Small gas test atmospheric kiln, 3 cu ft
- Downdraft gas salt kiln, 25 cu ft
- Ted Neal Soda kiln, 30 cu ft
- Ted Neal Train wood fire kiln
Production + support
- Brent potters wheels (180+
- Northstar slab roller
- 2 Bluebird clay mixers
- Sandblaster
- Four canister ball mill
- Large air compressor
- Exterior mounted dust collection system
- Large, grated glaze spray booth with venting
- Pneumatic extruder
- Manual extruder
- 3, 3-d ceramics printers
- 3 rolling hydraulic pump carts
- Expansive glaze materials lab
- Expansive clay materials lab
- 8 rolling production shelves
Fine Arts Building
- Skutt electric kilns, 1027, 1227
- Amaco electric kiln
- Cress test kiln
- Cress small electric kiln
- Bailey downdraft gas car kiln
- Alpine updraft gas kiln
- 16 Brent electric wheels
- 6 canvas top work tables
- Glaze lab,
- Peter Pugger clay mixer/pugger
- Spray booth
Play + discover
Ceramics students experiment with throwing, Handbuilding, molding making, glazing, firing, and developing new techniques as well as specialized tools and equipment such as wood, salt, soda, and other gas kilns, ceramic 3-D printers,
Visiting artists
Through the McKinney Visiting Artist Series and Ceramics Guild, the ceramics program hosts nationally and internationally recognized artists to meet with students, present their work, and give workshops and individual critiques.
Some of our past visiting artists include:
- Sergie Isopov
- Akio Takamori
- Chris Staley
- Kevin Snipes
- Jason Briggs
- Glenn Adamson
- Sunkoo Yuh
Alumni making their mark
Stephanie Galli
Since receiving her M.F.A. from IU, Stephanie Galli has spent time making art in China and Italy, and has been a resident artist at Red Lodge Clay Center, AMACO, and MudFire Clayworks. Her sculptures and utilitarian vessels have been featured in publications such as Ceramics Monthly, American iPottery, and BADAO ART. Galli was chosen as one of Ceramic Monthly’s 2017 Emerging Artists. Stephanie is currently an Assistant Professor of Art (Ceramics) at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where she also maintains an active studio practice.
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