Interest in ceramics is building among Signal Mountain youth, with the hand-building course currently being offered for the second summer at the MACC now considered to be one of the center’s most popular camps.
“I think it’s something new, and I think kids should try new things and see what they like,” said Kelly Delk, summer ceramics camp instructor at the MACC. “I think kids like to use their hands and build stuff, and a lot of kids like to build and make things they can use.”
Ceramics instructor Kelly Delk works on a project with Heidi Worley during a previous class held at the MACC.Delk recently wrapped up this summer’s first session of ceramics classes at the MACC, and she plans to offer two additional courses in the upcoming weeks.
“A lot of kids come back after they try it,” she said.
Her next summer ceramics camp, suitable for both beginning and advanced students ages 7-15, runs from Monday, July 23 to Thursday, July 26 from 3-5:30 p.m. each day.
Delk said she begins the course with a project in which students make something they can use, such as a bowl or cup. Depending on the skill level of the group and how many students are returning for a second session, other project options may include masks or “crazy tongue creatures,” she said.
History lessons will be incorporated as participants learn to craft bowls in the Native American style, and students will walk away with a basic knowledge of how to make and attach things with clay, said Delk, an art teacher for seven years in Cleveland, Tenn.
She said students will have the opportunity to work on a pottery wheel toward the end of camp. The MACC has four wheels students can use under her supervision, but the center does not have a kiln, she said.
Delk also teaches at John A. Patten Recreation Center in Lookout Valley, where she said she has access to a kiln to fire students’ work. If Signal Mountain’s interest in ceramics continues to grow, she said MACC staff is considering purchasing a kiln.
Delk also offers a summer camp focused on 3-D art, which in addition to hand-building with clay includes working in other 3-D mediums such as paper-mache, mold-making and origami. Designed for ages 10-14, the camp is being offered Monday, July 16 through Friday, July 20 from 9-11 a.m.
“Even if you don’t like drawing and painting, a lot of the hands-on people like [working in] 3-D more,” she said.
For those unable to attend her summer camps, Delk offers private ceramics lessons at the MACC as well as a fall session for beginning to advanced students ages 7-15.
The fall ceramics class will be held Tuesdays starting Oct. 24 and run through Dec.11 from 6-7:30 p.m.