This week, 8th Grade students at Webster City Middle School started their ceramics unit with their art instructor, Lisa Marie Jorgensen.
This is a unit they all look forward to because most have not used clay before, according to Jorgensen. This unit combines elements of art and cultural history, hand building technique and—of course—creativity.
“Students are a little overwhelmed in the beginning,” Jorgensen said.
Students have a series of requirements to get through before they even get their hands on clay. This includes a reading and writing assignment that ties tightly both into the Common Core and National Art Standards.
After the reading, students are exposed to the cultural history of African American Slavery within a Prezi presentation and learn about ceramic “Face Jugs,” also known as “Ugly Jugs”.
During slavery, anything that was considered valuable also had the need to be hidden, and these face jugs were created to do just that. Using scary or ugly faces—occasionally normal—the jugs would often “scare” away anyone that didn’t know what was in them.
During this Prezi , students also learn about the different techniques involved in hand-building with a series of rules to follow when working with clay.
Below are two photos Jorgensen uses in her presentation:
Image: African American Face Jug from Bath, South Carolina, late 1800s – from Skinnerinc.com
Image: Artistic Take on the traditional “Face Jug”, Alex Irvine
Following this, students participate in a demonstration in which they walk their teacher, Jorgensen, through some of the steps they’ve learned in their reading and Prezi.
They also have to take time to think about the process and plan out their ideas, including what the purpose of their jug will be – will it scare away or invite someone in? Or will it be pleasant enough that no one is scared? The possibilities are endless.
“Because they have been exposed to so much information in a variety of ways, they are pretty much ready to start,” Jorgensen said.
Students receive their clay and, on day one, roll a slab for their base and begin attaching coils.
“Making coils is one of the more challenging tasks for them,” Jorgensen said. “But they get the hang of it after a couple of days.”
After a series of days in which they attach coils and smooth over their walls, students learn the variety of ways that detail can be added (there are too many to count).
Their requirements are pretty straight forward – they must make a face that has one eye, one nose and a mouth. These details should be recognizable but do not have to be plain – in fact, Jorgensen encourages her students to get as creative as they can – whether they do something human, animal or completely make-believe.
Below is an image from Jorgensen in which students were working on building up their face jug with detail:
“I am always impressed with the imagination students put into this project,” Jorgensen said. “We have faces that range anywhere from normal, to monsters, to goofy, even animals and some zombies!”
Below are some images of projects made from previous trimesters this year:
Kaitlyn R., Class of 2017
Luke B., Class of 2017
Devin C., Class of 2017
Ann Marie L., Class of 2017
Jorgensen said she enjoys this unit because students end up having a great discussion surrounding a big part of our American history. Students also have a great collaboration regarding creativity.
“Students are constantly talking about their ideas and problem solving when something doesn’t work how they thought it might,” she said.
Webster City Community Schools 