What We’re About

The Ceramic Studio Assistants help in all ceramic processes on campus from start to finish. Making glazes, tutoring students on the potters’ wheel, firing pottery, maintaining kilns, and recycling clay are all in a day’s work as an assistant. You’ll maintain the ceramic studio areas, including the kiln room and glaze kitchen. Light cleaning and organization of the ceramic areas, as well as periodic mixing of the class glazes and slips are the primary responsibilities of an Assistant. You will also be responsible for the collection and storage of waste clay/materials, supervision of electric kiln firings, and possible preparation of demonstration materials. Occasionally you’ll have the opportunity to complete special projects such as making and firing test tiles. No experience? No problem! You will learn with your peers about all things ceramics and then pass those skills to others. What will you help make?

What You’ll Learn

You’ll spend years working alongside your peers with the mentorship of your supervisors.  Part of the experience of work at Warren Wilson is guided critical reflection, which helps ensure that you achieve both your own educational goals as well as our Common Learning Outcomes. These intentional learning outcomes distinguish our Work Program, giving it focus and relevancy that set it apart from a federal work-study or your average part-time job.

Our Common Learning Outcomes:

• Professionalism & Work Ethic: accountability, effective work habits, punctuality, dependability, time management, integrity, and commitment to the well-being of the community.
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: working with available resources to creatively address issues and solve problems, and gaining confidence to make decisions.
• Communication: the ability to convey and receive information effectively with intentionality, honesty, and confidence in both speech and writing.
• Collaboration & Teamwork: actively collaborate with peers to achieve common goals, Distribute labor fairly, and hold each other accountable as committed members of a group.
• Civic Identity: understanding your active influence within the community and how your decisions directly impact the work around you.

In addition to our Common Learning Outcomes, each crew in the Work Program identifies crew-specific goals for learning and performance. These are reviewed with you each semester. Your crew-specific learning goals outline skills and abilities your supervisor will teach you during the semester.

Some of our Ceramics Crew Learning Goals include:

• The in’s and out’s of managing and maintaining a ceramic studio
• Gaining personal ceramic skills 
• Tutoring and peer support