Collen Grahek
Contributing Writer
Do you have an interest in pottery making? Do you want to brush up on your talent or learn a new one?
Well, the Pottery and Ceramics Club was recently approved by SAA. It will allow students to develop and discover the art of pottery and ceramics. It will offer a fine arts outlet for students that has not been offered before.
Morgan Veltri, a senior Environmental Studies major from Norwalk, Conn., stated that she started the club to share her passion for pottery and ceramics with others. She also wanted to open the opportunity for students who were not officially registered for the ceramics courses.
“If you’re not registered for Ceramics I or Ceramics II, they won’t allow you to use the classroom and equipment,” Club President Veltri said. “So, I wanted to open up more opportunities for more people.”
Veltri stated that the club is still in the planning stages on where their meetings will take place and when. As of now, they are not meeting on a weekly basis and do not have a set location.
“We might need to hold our meetings off campus. I’m going to talk to one of the local ceramics shops to see about possibly holding our meetings there,” Veltri said. “We may not have one specific location. We might bounce back and forth. And we are still trying to get funding for a budget going. I will post any updated information on the WarriorLink and GroupMe.”
Once the club is able to find a location and establish a regular meeting date, Veltri said that she plans to hold mini workshops where she can help and teach members how to use the equipment. Membership of the club is in high demand and more people have expressed interest than expected.
“Out of nowhere, we were told that we weren’t allowed to use the ceramics classroom during our first meeting. So, we had to move the meeting outside. We had a pretty large turnout. Over 40 people. The classroom can only fit 20 currently.”
Veltri’s love of ceramics started in high school, where she took a ceramics course as a sophomore. Although she never got the chance to finish the course in its entirety due to its abrupt cancelation, she was able to continue exploring her passion when she came to ESU.
“It’s crazy that they didn’t have the club before. I have always loved it,” Veltri said. “You know, just feeling the clay on your hands, it’s relaxing.”
Veltri stated that she would love to see the club grow and become a mainstay after she graduates.
“I like to see people get their hands dirty and have fun. I feel like people don’t get the ability to experience the arts as much. There are some people out there who don’t believe the art is real. Just seeing people express themselves with substrate and color, and experience the feeling of clay in their hands. That is what I would like to share with others.”
The other club officers are Vice President Madison Short and Treasurer Tessa Pellerito.
You can also follow the club on Instagram here.