BCA Clay Days!

It was a total pleasure this week to take my third through fifth graders across the street to Burlington City Arts to throw pottery on the wheels!

Each class had this experience thanks to our fantastic Edmunds PTO fundraising to make the trip possible.  Students arrived excited to get their hands dirty and hear expert clay teachers at BCA give how-to's on the basics of throwing on a wheel.

Students practice their "crab claws" to pinch and pull up the side walls with teacher Alissa Faber

Most of my students have been here before- it's an annual school tradition.  This year students could choose to make a basic vessel, such as a cup or bowl. One student made a flower pot, and there were a few vases in the mix as well.

Centering clay is by far the hardest part, so students arrived to pre-centered clay lumps at their wheel, from which they could alter the piece.

Pulling the floor of a bowl.  And such steady, strong posture for throwing!

Every single student made a finished piece. These will be returned to our artists in a couple weeks after they are fired.

You can tell from kids' posture how totally rapt their attention is on BCA teacher Kate.

Students were excellent guests in the space- engaged, polite, respectful of the hundreds of fragile artworks drying on shelves all around them.

This short video really shows how laser-focused artists were. 

What a treat for all of us to go!

A BIG THANK YOU to BCA staff and the Edmunds PTO for making our field trip possible!