Monday - Friday September 7 - 11, 2025 | 10 am - 5 pm

Intermediate Level: open to all skill levels, but covers technical material

* This session covers the same information as the May session.

Description

Join instructors Mitch Iburg and Zoë Powell at Studio Alluvium in Saint Paul, Minnesota to learn the foundations of working with local clays and minerals in the ceramics studio.

This 4.5-day hands-on workshop will provide guidelines on identifying, foraging, processing, and testing a variety of materials collected from around Minnesota. Participants will learn how to use these resources to develop clay bodies, slips, and glazes. Student work will be fired to cone 6 in oxidation and will be available to take home on the last day of the workshop.

This workshop includes at least one field trip to an off-site location. The daily schedule will vary, but students should expect to be in class between 10-5, with an hour-long lunch break at noon. The final day of the workshop is from 9-12 to allow travel time for students returning home. Participants will be responsible for their own lodging, travel and meals. Students may bring a lunch or order from a nearby restaurant for delivery or pickup. Please let us know at checkout if you are able to provide transportation for other students during field trips.

Hotel and Restaurant Recommendations

All topics discussed in this workshop will easily translate to anyone’s home studio practice, even if you have access to different materials. Participants will be able to use this information to locate and test their own materials at home.

All registrants will receive a digital copy of the Studio Alluvium Workbook, which outlines useful geologic information, clay harvesting resources, and testing procedures. This is emailed to students a week before class begins.

Health and Safety

Portions of the workshop may involve climbing on steep, rocky terrain. Participants are asked to come prepared for potentially messy clay preparation.

Topics Covered

• health and safety in the studio and field

• defining clays

• overview of clay types and their properties

• finding and identifying clays and other resources

• bulk processing techniques for clays and common non-clay materials

• testing procedures (including line blends, triaxials, + grog tests)

• interpreting finished results

In recognizing that our work takes place on Native land, every year we donate a portion of the proceeds from our in-person workshops to a local Indigenous-led non-profit organization.