LEWISBURG (WVDN) – Carnegie Hall’s Spring Classes and Workshops Series offers arts and crafts educational opportunities to students of all ages. Teaching artist Sean O’Connell will lead several hand-building and wheel pottery workshops beginning in February and running through June.
Wheel Throwing Clay for Teens & Adults is a six-week course taught by O’Connell and begins Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 6-8:30 p.m. In this introduction to wheel-thrown ceramics, teens and adults will explore how to prepare clay for throwing, learn how to center clay on the potter’s wheel and make simple vessel forms such as the cylinder, bowl and plate. Through this process, students will get a feeling for working with earth-based clay and the many possibilities it offers for creativity.
Students will also learn techniques for glazing and finishing their work. Other Section 1 class dates include March 7, 14, 21, 28 and April 11 (no class April 4). Section 2 class dates include April 25, May 2, 9, 16, 23 and June 6 (no class May 30).
O’Connell’s second six-class course is Hand Building for Adults. Section 1 takes place Thursdays March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 and April 13 (no class April 6), from 6-8:30 p.m. Section 2 dates include April 27, May 4, 11, 18, 25 and June 8 (no class June 1).
Hand Building for Adults explores a variety of form and design concepts combining several techniques in working clay by hand. Tap into creative problem solving in clay using visual elements such as line, volume, balance, texture, proportion scale and color in a 3-D design. Shape a lidded tripod ginger jar from soft clay slabs or mold a full in-the-round sculptural figure.
Sculpt a bas relief wall piece or garden muse. Come create objects of beauty, function, integrity and spirit.
All levels welcome.
Automatic scholarships are available for students 50 years of age and older for all of McConnell’s classes. Class size is limited, and students must be at least 17 years old. All materials are provided.
O’Connell is a ceramic artist from Upstate New York who relocated to Greenbrier County in 2013. From 1995-2003, O’Connell studied all aspects of ceramic arts with professor Regis Brodie at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.
O’Connell is passionate about his craft and has done exhibitions in several museums and art centers in New York and Massachusetts including the Ginofor Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs. Today, O’Connell teaches ceramic art classes at Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg and works out of a private studio space at Lee Street Studios.
