Ceramics Program
The Ceramics Program at the MIT Student Art Association is a supportive, 24-hour access, hands-on working environment open to all members of the MIT community. Located on the fourth floor of the Stratton Student Center, the Ceramics Program offers class instruction in wheel throwing and hand building and also non-class independent use.
The main studio, 665 sq. ft., is equipped with twelve electric potters’ wheels, wedging boards, a slab roller, worktables, and ample storage for works in progress. The glazing room, 310 sq. ft., is supplied with dry material for glaze making, twelve studio glazes for cone 6 firing, and shelving for personal storage. The 170 sq. ft. kiln room is located across the hall. It is equipped with two large digital electronic kilns, a sink, and shelving for bisque and glazed ware. Most of our equipment was purchased through generous grants by the Council for the Arts at MIT and gifts by other alumni.
Courses are offered for a ten week term in beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of clay work. A typical offering will cover both proper clay preparation and personal guidance in glazing techniques. Students are able to learn all aspects of the ceramic arts process from a talented staff of professional clay artists. Whether designing functional work, exploring glaze chemistry, or designing and making tiles, students of the SAA Ceramics Program creatively problem solve in an open and supportive environment.
The SAA Ceramics Program is a central part of student life on campus. Not only does it offer students an opportunity to explore a difficult, centering, and focused creative outlet, using the SAA Ceramics Program is an important refuge for and part of the mental health of many MIT students. 342 graduate students, undergraduates, staff, alumni, and other MIT affiliates, in that order, were enrolled in our clay classes in 2006.
MIT provides the SAA Ceramics Program with space to work and a salary for a ten-hour-per-week, part-time Technical Instructor staff position to help run the studio. However, student fees pay for all class materials, expenses, and teachers. In order to keep fees low, we currently pay our teachers well below market level, and we provide limited materials to our students.
The SAA Ceramics Program is a place of creativity and stress relief for many MIT students. A modes endowment will practically eliminate class fees for students, provide free class materials, account for depreciation of equipment, increase the Studio Manager’s employment level to a 20 hour per week position, and provide teachers with market level pay rates.
Endowing and naming the SAA Ceramics Program is a unique opportunity to benefit a large section of student life on campus.
Annual Ceramics Studio Budget Needs
Student Fee subsidy 7,000
50% Studio manager salaries (w/ EBs) 28,600
Teaching payroll to $40/hr. 21,800
Class materials 14,000
Equipment Depreciation 2,200
Total annual expenditure 73,600
Please visit the MIT Giving Page to support the Ceramics Studio.
