CERAMICS

The Ceramics Area at the University of New Mexico supports the development of diverse personal visions, ranging from utilitarian pottery, objects, sculpture, and installations to site-specific works, community-engaged projects, and cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary practice, and honor national curriculum and safety standards. Special, field-based courses, in time-honored, Pueblo Pottery traditions, are taught and developed by Clarence Cruz of the Oh-kay Owingeh Pueblo. A Luce Foundation Indigenous Knowledge Fellow, Professor Cruz fosters inclusive, cross-cultural dialog, and draws on the singularity of the Southwest.

Ceramics Facilities 

Ceramics is housed in three separate buildings.  Undergraduate facilities are located in the Art Building and Masley Hall on main campus.  Graduate and faculty facilities can be found at the Charles Mattox Research Center, a few blocks off-campus. The Mattox spans over 30,000-square-feet of cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary workspace, dedicated to individual studios, communal areas for large-scale works, exhibition and critique rooms.  Students with backgrounds in Ceramics, Arts and Ecology, Experimental Art and Technology, Sculpture and Small Scale Metals Construction are admitted into the MFA program by the consensus decision of faculty in those five areas.

Ceramics Course Offerings

Ceramics’ course offerings encourage the investigation of clay’s potential as a timeless, primary means of artistic expression. Emphasis is given to the indispensable relationships of material, process, and context to idea. Ceramics honors CAA and NASAD curriculum guidelines and provides a solid foundation in world clay history, concepts, materials, processes, safety, and professional practice at all levels.

Courses Include:

    • Introduction to Ceramics
    • Introduction to Pueblo Pottery Materials
    • Pueblo Pottery

Intermediate, Upper Division, and Graduate Courses

  • For the Table and the Garden
  • Introduction to Monumental Sculpture and Wheel – Thrown Pottery Forms
  • Murals, Mosaic: Community Art, Public Art And Open Projects
  • Ceramics Materials and Aesthetics

Additional Courses:

  • Independent Study
  • Graduate Tutorial
  • BFA Honors Thesis
  • MFA Dissertation

Ceramics Materials and Equipment Checklist

Ceramics at the Art Building
Raw clays and glaze materials
Soldner clay mixers
Pugmill
Ball mill
Slip mixer
Slab roller
Extruder
Electric and kick-wheels
Electric kilns
30-cubic-foot Geil Downdraft kiln
60-cubic- foot Alpine kiln
Raku kiln and pit areas.

Ceramics at Masely Hall
Electric and Kick-wheels
Slab roller
Electric kilns
Geil downdraft

Mattox Equipment
Fully equipped, woodshop
Fully metal fabrication facilities Electric kilns
Slab roller
Spray glaze booth
Soldner  clay mixer
Slip mixer

FACULTY & STAFF

Clarence Cruz

Clarence Cruz

Associate Professor

Luce Foundation Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship for Native American intellectual and community leaders MFA Studio Art, Pueblo Pottery Emphasis Minor Museum Studies, BFA Studio Art, emphasis Ceramics, UNM Albuquerque, c108@unm.edu

Jonathan Fitz
Art Lab Manager Ceramics, MFA Ceramics and Sculpture, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH www.jonathanfitzstudio.com jfitz@unm.edu

Justin Nighbert
Art Lab Manager, The Mattox MFA in Studio Art, Sculpture Emphasis, UNM

Visiting Artists

Cesar Dominguez Alvarado and Gabriella Almeida Gallegos, Mata Ortiz, Mexico
Mary Barringer
Margaret Bohls
Mary Jo Bole
Joe Bova
Cynthia Bringle
Mel Chin
Sonya Clark
Michael Corney
Tom Coleman
Sharbani Das Gupta
Eddie Dominguez
Ron Fondaw
Mary Lewis Garcia, Acoma Pueblo
Abigail Gualingua, Sarayacu and Leonaora Nango Immundo, Montalvo, Ecuador
Margot Geist
Hiroshi Ikehata, Koumi, Japan
Mel Jacobson
Tsehai Jonson

Tom Joyce
James Marshall
Jean Sahme Nampeyo, Hopi Nation
Avra Leodas
Lucy Lippard
Nobuhho Nagasawa
Angelica Pozo
Matt Repsher
Illona Romule, Riga, Latvia
Alison Saar
Beverly Semmes
Rose Simpson, Santa Clara Pueblo
Rebecca Solnitt
Roxanne Swentzel, Santa Clara
Charlene Teters, Spokane Nation
Moira Vincentelli, Aberystwyth, Wales
Triesch Voelker
Kurt Weiser
Kay Whitney