Foy_Eleanor_06.original_nMsPzRV Eleanor Foy ('21 Ceramics)

Classes + Course Requirements

Once you declare your major, students in the ceramics school take the following core courses as they progress from sophomore to senior year. For additional electives and courses, view the online course catalog.

1st Year

Your journey begins in Foundation where you will explore different techniques and skills and find new passions that you didn't know you had.

2nd Year

  • Figure & Structure in Clay
  • Innovation in the Multiple
  • Materials & Process I
  • Materials & Process II

3rd Year

  • Source & Form
  • Process & Practice

4th Year

  • Context & Thesis
  • Presentation & Exhibition
  • Professional Practice

“Your life is a form of research. Some of the work these students make today is going to be some of the most important work they will ever make.”

Roberto Lugo (‘12 Ceramics)

Lecturers

Tom Binger
Kate Clements
SunYoung Park

KCAI Ceramics School provides a deep dive into a broad range of ceramics practices.
Ceramics Studio During the End of Semester Exhibition

Richard J. Stern Ceramics Studios

At the Richard J. Stern Ceramics Studios, you’ll get to formulate and mix your own clay bodies and glazes, supported by fully stocked and equipped dedicated studio areas for every student.

Program perks include:

  • Dedicated studio space for each student
  • Pottery wheels
  • Extruders
  • Slab roller
  • Clay and glaze rooms stocked with raw materials, clay mixer, and spray booth
  • Plaster room for making molds, including a plaster-lathing wheel
  • Kiln room with electric kilns, state-of-the-art Bailey and Blaauw gas kilns for firing low, mid, and high-temperature glazes
  • Ventilation system for the removal of dust and fumes for a healthy work environment

Career Paths + Career Outcomes

KCAI Ceramics School graduates work as Studio Artists, Independent Designers, Curators, Art Critics, Fine Art Professors, Product Designers, K-12 Art Teachers, and Arts Administrators. Employers include the Archie Bray Foundation, Belger Crane Yard, Hallmark, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Johnson County Community College, UMKC, Art Institute of Chicago, Tyler School of Art, and Mattie Rhodes Center.

KCAI's Professional Practice Center will help you prepare for your career.

Ceramics Teaching Collection

Be inspired by over 800 works by students, faculty, alumni, and visiting artists including Roberto Lugo, Jessica Brandle, Akio Takamori, and other superstars of contemporary ceramics. Your work could be on display soon — each semester faculty members choose work from students to join the permanent collection.

Ceramics Alumni

Ceramics School alumni work in a variety of fields and many earn advanced degrees at some of the country's top MFA programs.

Screen_Shot_2022-06-22_at_10.03.05_AM.width-600 Roberto Lugo ('12 Ceramics)
8.Bernadette Esperanza Torres in blue glasses with her handmade ceramic flowers in a vase in her art studio_Photo Credit Stone Addams - Audrey Kesler Bernadette Esperanza Torres (’91 Ceramics)
shanelutzk-tornio-ceramica-artist-artista-clay-museo-savona-federicadelprino-artista-residenzaartistica-vaso-operadarte-683x1024 Shane Lutzk ('14 Ceramics)