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Dig Into Pottery-Making at UA Art Camp in June

High school students who want to learn real pottery-making skills will get their chance at UA Art Camp in June. Assistant Professor Wade MacDonald and MFA alumnus Parker Hunt will teach simple hand-building methods, wheel throwing, firing processes, and glazing strategies in ceramics during UA Art Camp, June 26-30, 2023. The introductory clay course is designed to give rising 9th through 12th graders a taste of what UA art courses are like. No previous experience is required for this class or any of the classes at UA Art Camp. The deadline for UA Art Camp registration is June 5.

An instructor teaches a camper how to throw a pot on the wheel during UA Art Camp 2022.

“This summer,” MacDonald explained, “we will do two short hand-building assignments which will focus on pinching and coiling, and follow that with working on the potter’s wheel. Students will discover the narrative potential of hand-built pots through surface decoration, and they’ll learn some strategies for throwing functional pots on the wheel.”

UA Art Camp runs the week of June 26-30. Rising 9th through 12th graders can spend a week exploring the art discipline of their choice and get a taste of UA studio courses. Besides Ceramics, UA art faculty will offer courses in Sculpture, Printmaking, Graphic Design, and Zines and Moveable Books. Click here for more information or to register.

MacDonald said, “Last summer, students formed unexpected connections to the clay material and to our wonderfully talented instructors. Our ceramics staff strives to create a supportive and nurturing environment where students feel free to be themselves and put their unique personalities into their ceramic projects.”

Wade MacDonald, assistant professor of art, ceramics
Wade MacDonald

Wade MacDonald has taught ceramics in the UA Department of Art and Art History since 2015, first as an instructor and then as an assistant professor. He and his work have been profiled in American Craft Magazine and MacDonald received the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Emerging Artist Award in 2018. His work has been selected for prestigious juried exhibitions around the country, including Milwaukee (Wis.) Institute of Art and Design; Kennedy Museum of Art, Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio; Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Clay Center of New Orleans; Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Museum of Art; and Saratoga Clay Arts Center, Schuylerville, New York; among others. MacDonald has held recent solo exhibitions at Ejecta Projects in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Biggin Gallery, Auburn, Ala.; and Eichold Gallery, Mobile, Ala. He curated a juried exhibition (Clay Center of New Orleans) and an invited exhibition (Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, Tuscaloosa) featuring artists who use clay with other materials in their work and has written about his own innovative work in ceramics for Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated.

Parker Hunt’s exhibition in the Sella-Granata Art Gallery

Parker Hunt received his MFA from The University of Alabama in 2023 and holds a BFA in ceramics and sculpture from the University of Montevallo. Hunt taught at UA Art Camp in 2022. He has exhibited in national and regional juried exhibitions and has taught ceramics at UA and previously at Gadsden State Community College, and at the K-12 level. Hunt was visiting artist at Carlow University, Pittsburgh, Penn.; artist-in-residence at the Walnut Gallery, and at Mary G. Hardin Center of Cultural Arts, both in Gadsden; and served as an artist assistant at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee.

For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, visit our Degree Programs page.