Ceramics
Code: C0606-26
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Open to All
Students of any skill and knowledge level.
Prototyping in Clay: A Hand Building Design Intensive and Professional Practices
Jul 6 - 10, 2026
9 AM - 5 PM
Tuition: $1,300.00
Course Fee: $295.00
Registration Fee: $45.00
Concept
In this intensive class on product design in clay, students focus on a combination of professional practices and hand-building strategies, learning the techniques behind crafting unique, tabletop-sized vessels. Through demonstrations, we learn essential design principles around shape, form, and silhouettes, and techniques for hand-building and coil-building. Participants receive personalized guidance and feedback on projects while developing technical and problem-solving skills. The goal is for each participant to complete a minimum of two models and two prototypes.
Media & Techniques
Model making, prototyping, hand building, firing
Faculty
Bari Ziperstein
Bari Ziperstein is a Los Angeles-based artist working in mixed media sculpture with a primary focus in ceramics. Her plural and fluid practice includes discrete objects, large-scale installation, site-specific public sculpture, and her line of functional ceramics, BZIPPY. Materially experimental but conceptual at its core, her practice engages ideas of consumerism, propaganda, and the built environment from a historical lens.
Bari Ziperstein,BZIPPY works in situ, Ruffle and Clover Series
Tuition: $1,300.00
Course Fee: $295.00
Registration Fee: $45.00
Workshop Details
Workshop Supplies
For general information about studio access, shipping, and more, please visit our info page.
If you have any questions regarding your supplies for your workshop, please contact Joanne Seongweon Lee, [email protected].
Provided by Anderson Ranch
Equipment
- Banding wheel
- Buckets
- Drywall boards
- Electric kilns
- Extruder
- Rolling pin
- Slab roller
- Wareboards
Supplies
- Cardboard
- Hot glue guns
- scrap coardboard for model-making
- The clay allowance is 50 pounds for this one-week workshop. Only the clays and glazes chosen for the workshop will be available for use, which are predetermined by the instructor. Please do not bring additional clay from your studio.
What you need to bring
Required Tools and Supplies
- Apron and/or towel**
- Favorite ceramics tools from your home studio
- Mudtool ribs: all sizes in green, yellow, purple, red**
- Sketchbook/Notebook**
- Small sponge**
- Scoring tools**
- Serrated rib**
- ruler**
- brushes for applying slip**
- Basic pottery tools**
Optional Tools and Supplies
- Light colored T-shirt for screen printing**
- Packing materials**
- Respirator/N-99 dust mask**
Supplies
- Sketches of product ideas
* Available for purchase in the studio.
** Available to purchase at the Anderson Ranch ArtWorks Store for 10% off. The store aims to stock comparable items, though specific products from the supply list may vary based on inventory.
Learn more about shipping supplies and artwork to and from the Ranch in the Student Handbook.
Lodging & Meals
Housing is limited and includes shared and private lodging options. Reservations will be managed on a first-come, first-served basis. The earlier you reserve housing, the better your chance of receiving your preferred option. Please note: Workshop costs do not include accommodations.
NEW: Course fees includes a welcome dinner and lunches. In our effort to foster a stronger sense of community and accessibility at Anderson Ranch, we include the welcome dinner and all lunches as part of course fees for summer workshop students. Our hope is that this adjustment will encourage all students to come together to share meals and engage in meaningful conversations. The Ranch Café Meal Plan, which is included with Room and Board fees, strives to provide healthy, creative meals that will nourish your artistic creativity. Learn more.
We have established a Business Safety Plan with added layers of precaution that prioritize the health and safety of our staff, students, faculty and guests while continuing to provide you with the Anderson Ranch experience that you know and enjoy.
Ceramics
In 1966, American ceramicist Paul Soldner selected the site for what is now Anderson Ranch Arts Center, forming the foundation for a thriving ceramics program. Then and now, Anderson Ranch is a place where students exchange ideas and examine ceramic art and pottery techniques. It has always been a place where seminal moments of growth happen in an artist’s creative and critical thinking. Here, both beginning and emerging artists gain strong fundamental support, while established artists achieve new perspectives and advance their techniques.
The Ranch Ceramics team provides support, feedback and technical problem-solving, giving each artist the freedom to experiment and grow. Our primary focus is on personal advancement through a process of creative discovery.
The Soldner Ceramics Center makes up more than 10,000 square feet in three buildings with 3 studio spaces and 1 kiln yard; Soldner Studio, Long Studio, Sorenson Studio and Lyeth/Lyon Kiln Building. Soldner and Long studios are used for wheel-throwing, hand-building, or general ceramics creativity. Sorenson studio is equipped with five PotterBot 3d clay printers. The Lyeth/Lyon kiln building is equipped with gas, electric, soda and wood kilns for both oxidation and reduction firing at all temperature ranges. The Ranch offers three wood kilns including a gas/wood hybrid kiln, three gas reduction kilns, one soda kiln and eleven high-temperature electric kilns.
Don’t know where to start? View the skill levels for ceramics workshops.
Anderson Ranch Arts Center is a historic, rustic campus that features gravel pathways and uneven terrain that may pose challenges for individuals using wheelchairs or other mobility devices. We strive to provide accommodations to ensure all guests can access and enjoy our programs and facilities. With advance notice, our staff can offer personalized assistance and coordinate access to studios and campus spaces. For questions or to request an accommodation, please contact us at (970) 923-3181 or [email protected].
Anderson Ranch is happy to extend a 20% tuition discount for summer one- or two-week adult ceramics workshops for NCECA members at the student membership level or above. Please email [email protected] with your NCECA membership information prior to registering and we will send you a promo code to complete registration with your discount applied. You are also welcome to call 970-924-5089 to register after verifying your membership with us. **Please note, this discount must be approved prior to registering and cannot be applied retroactively. NCECA discount does not apply to Advanced Mentored Studies programs or Destination Workshops, nor can it be combined with any other discount, scholarship or special offer.
Related Events
Scholarships, College Credit & Discounts
Making Art Accessible
Applications for scholarship support are encouraged. Specific scholarships are funded by Ranch supporters, either through endowed funds or special gifts.
Many colleges and universities offer college credit for workshops taken at Anderson Ranch. Discounts are available for students and teachers.
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