by Morgan Yeatts
Here at the Academy, our mission is to serve the community through arts and culture. One of the means by which we accomplish our mission is through providing art classes to all members of our community.
Recently, our staff was able to provide assistance to two visually impaired students in our adult pottery class.
Our Potter Basics and Beyond class is Kim Rickmon’s first ever art class experience, however she hopes to take more in the future. Her instructor, Kim, has altered her instruction in the necessary ways to assist Rickman’s experience in the class. “Kim does several things to help me out.” Rickmon says. “She describes what I need to do and if that doesn’t work, she will make something that I can touch and try to recreate myself. She has also held my hands to show me how to work the clay in certain ways.”
Rickmon finds working with clay a relaxing and rewarding experience. “I’m generally proud of the things I make. It’s nice to have something that’s just my own, and pottery makes me feel as though I have that.”
Victoria Hauck has experience with painting classes, but our Pottery Basics and Beyond class is her first pottery class experience. “Painting is wonderful, but it causes so much eye strain,” she says. “In ceramics class I get a welcomed break because closing your eyes and feeling the clay with your hands is an encouraged technique.”
Hauck has been attending the Monday night pottery class since January and is in love with the art form. “I love ceramics because it’s so vastly different from other art forms. It’s forgiving, grounding, and basically limitless in its possibilities.”
Ted Batt, our Director of Visual Arts, says, “It is exciting for us to have the opportunity to provide an environment in which they are able to experience art, unhindered”.
If you would like to join a pottery class or get more information about any of our other art classes, visit the education tab for a full list of classes.
