Students walking up Jeff Hill and around Glidden Hall on Thursday were greeted by the smell of burning wood as ceramics students from Ohio State University and Ohio University came together to take advantage of one of the largest outdoor kiln facilities in the country.
The weather proved to be cooperative for the lighting of the kilns, which are powered by wood firing, as the rain that had been falling steadily throughout the week stopped just in time for the group, which included 12 OSU students, to fire their work. ??
“It’s been absolutely amazing; we’re an hour ahead of schedule,” said Brad Schwieger, the OU ceramics chair. “We were loading the kiln and it was almost a little warm, and it was beautiful.”
The two ceramics programs, both ranked in the top 10 by the U.S. News Education report for their graduate programs, have been working together to share facilities.
“We’ve been doing a little exchange with OU; we don’t have a wood-firing kiln at Ohio State, so we’re splitting facilities, I guess,” said Kirk Jackson, an OSU senior studying ceramics. “It’s a great opportunity to come down and it’s something I’m personally very interested in so we’re very fortunate OU let us come down here.”
The groups put approximately 400 pieces of art into two of the wood-firing kilns. The atmosphere and result of wood firing is unique every time because of the way heat jumps off the pots to glaze them, Jackson said.
Kristie Sluder, a fifth-year senior studying ceramics at OU, said she participated in the firing to build a sense of community.
“It’s important for artists to be around other artists and to participate with each other because yeah, we’re competing against each other, but we can also learn a lot from each other,” she said. “Since we are so close and they don’t have the facilities we have, why wouldn’t we show them the experience of firing outside?”
Schwieger said he was optimistic about the firing, which will carry on into Friday evening. During the firing, there will be three people at each kiln to feed the fire throughout the night. The group is cooking on a barbecue, and the kiln area also contains a wood-fired pizza oven, which they will use Friday night.
The main concern is staying warm during night shifts, but Schwieger said there will be heat sources for the people tending the kiln, including a fire pit and the heat from the kiln itself.
Jackson said Thursday went very well and he enjoyed coming down to work with OU on the firing.
“It’s been nice working with people from other universities, and it’s been fun,” he said. “I’m looking forward to finishing up and seeing how it goes.”
eb104010@ohiou.edu
