
Ceramics
Ceramic objects are sculptural, expressive, and useful. Regardless of the form they take, they create an intimate connection between the maker and the user.
The Ceramics emphasis at CCS offers instruction in thrown work and sculptural work. Students learn the scientific properties of clay and techniques for firing and glazing. They master a range of techniques, from the traditional to alternatives such as coil, mold, slab, and slip cast—creating molds to mass-produce pottery. Ceramics can incorporate a range of materials, including glass, steel, fiber, and stone and the open and flexible curriculum allows students to work with many other materials and ideas outside of clay, engaging the resources in other departments and collaborations with other faculty and students. These skills are relevant to careers in a range of sectors, from automotive and architecture to product design and museum restoration.
Opportunities are everywhere for CCS Ceramics students, from the auto industry and architecture to product design and restoration. These opportunities are unique to Detroit’s culture of invention, innovation, and manufacturing. Likewise, Detroit’s societal complexities necessitate new kinds of dialog around art, craft, design, architecture, industry, and social awareness that CCS Ceramics is engaging with. The CCS Ceramics studio is a space for learning, taking risks, building, and starting conversations that will continue to shape the lives of our students for the entirety of their careers.
CAREER CHOICES
Art Educator
Ceramic Artist
Clay Modeler
Gallery Owner
Independent Artist
Mold Maker
Sculptor
Tile Designer
Featured Alumni
Henry Crissman
Co-founder
Ceramics School
Virginia Torrence
Studio Artist/Co-founder
Ceramics School
Emily LoPresto
Mold Maker/ Studio Artist
Elysia Vandenbussche
Sole Proprietor
Elysia

Karyn Pryor
Group Manager, Creative Sculpting
General Motors
Hayden Allison Richer,
Studio Artist/Ceramic Wet Shop Technician in the Making Center
Parsons New School