About the Studio
An Ancient Craft in a Bright New Studio
Opening in spring 2023, the New College West Ceramics Studio offers a selection of open studio sessions and workshops held during the academic year. There are no grades here, just a friendly environment for learning and experimenting in clay. We provide all the supplies needed and the studio is always staffed by someone who will answer your questions. Because of the high demand for this space, registration is required, and limited to undergraduate students. Please see our events section for registration and availability. We hope to see you in the studio!
What We Do
In our hand-building and wheel-throwing spaces, we offer basic instruction in functional and sculptural ceramics. Our studio manager, student employees and community volunteers are happy to help you. We have open studio sessions where a monitor is present for self-directed work in clay. There will also be instructional workshops on topics like coil-building, pinch pots, slab building and wheel-throwing. We host study breaks on a selection of topics, and campus leaders can request a study break using our form. Registration is required for all of our events!
Who Can Come?
The New College West Ceramics Studio is open to Princeton University undergraduate students. Our studio is intimate, and at this time we can only hold up to ten people at a time strictly during scheduled openings.
Facilities
Our custom-built Ceramics Studio has 8 pottery wheels, including one accessible wheel. We have work tables for hand-building and glazing, ample sinks for washing up, large windows for daylight, a slab roller, extruder, slump and hump molds, high quality hand tools, digitally controlled electric kilns, and a pugmill. We have stoneware clay, a variety of cone 6 glazes, underglazes, colored slips, decorative ceramic transfers and more. The Ceramics Studio Manager oversees the facility, together with several student employees who have prior experience in ceramics. All that is missing is your creative spirit, and willingness to try!
Employment
From time-to-time we hire new studio associates. Ceramics Studio Associates are responsible for maintaining open studio hours, teaching workshops and/or completing studio maintenance and technical work once or twice a week for about 3-4 hours at a time. Activities could include: cleaning and organizing tools, making glazes, recycling clay, keeping up the studio’s social media account, loading or unloading kilns, vacuuming the kiln room (with a special hepa filter vacuum), and other tasks. End of session clean-up is required, as is making sure students clean up after themselves. There is also online reporting to complete. Safety training is required. We respect student managers’ need to devote time to studies, especially during exam periods, but the studio monitor's position is vital to the ceramics studio, so adherence to a set schedule is required. If we are currently hiring, we will post to the listServe and Student Employment. Any inquiries can be sent to [email protected].