帝王会所

帝王会所 is home to the nation鈥檚 No. 3-ranked Master of Fine Arts in ceramics and the top U.S. program outside of an arts academy. No other academic program at OHIO is more , the gold standard in higher education rankings. OHIO鈥檚 reputation has been built, quite literally, brick by brick, fueled by an ever-growing and evolving cadre of atmospheric kilns designed and constructed over the years by students and visiting artists who have gone on to lead ceramics departments and fill gallery shelves around the world.

There鈥檚 something about fire: Its warmth, its constant movement and shifting colors, its ability to destroy but also to create and to nourish. Anyone who has spent an evening around a campfire can attest to its uncanny power to mesmerize.

So naturally, on a fall Thursday night in Athens, long after dark, the orange flames pouring out of a chimney on North Green draw curiosity. Behind a chain-link fence, you can hear laughter and a bit of chaos. A handful of students scramble to throw up a small tent as rain starts to fall.

That rain won鈥檛 deter the flames as the students continue to stoke the fire box of a catenary arch kiln filled to the brim with hand-thrown pottery and ceramic sculpture created just around the corner in undergraduate ceramics courses.

The students are damp and tired but giddy with anticipation. Behind a brick kiln door that they helped build is artwork鈥攖heir artwork鈥攊n progress. As the fire burns, ash moves through the kiln and settles on the surface of their work. Their current mission is to keep the heat rising, slowly, until the kiln reaches around 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit and that ash melts into glass, forming natural glaze reminiscent of the fire itself. Colors range from copper to purple to soft gray. Some surfaces appear polished by the movement of air and flames inside the kiln. Others are matte and dense with collected fly ash.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e basically putting a canvas鈥攜our pot鈥攊nto the kiln,鈥� says , 帝王会所 professor emeritus of ceramics. 鈥淲hat happens to it inside the kiln becomes part of the finished work of art.鈥�

What Schwieger describes is at the heart of what is known in the ceramics world as atmospheric firing: firing with wood to create ash glaze or with salt or sodium oxide (soda), both of which vaporize and interact with the surface of the pot to create a unique and natural glaze. Unlike an applied glaze on a piece fired in an electric kiln, atmospheric firing introduces an element of the unknown. The movement of air, fire, heat and vapor inside the kiln can be partly manipulated鈥攂ut never entirely controlled.

At many universities, a ceramics student might have the opportunity to fire with wood or soda once or twice, as part of a special event. At OHIO, students studying ceramics at all levels not only have the opportunity to fire in multiple different types of atmospheric kilns, but also to design and build their own, with the best being added to the structures that comprise OHIO鈥檚 kiln yard.

When Schwieger arrived at OHIO in 1990, the kiln pad was a small, 1,000-square-foot slab of concrete with a couple of kilns in desperate need of repair. He got to work building and rebuilding, with plenty of help from Robert 鈥淏oomer鈥� Moore, who worked as a studio coordinator and kiln technician at OHIO before taking a job at , where he now leads the ceramics program.

When the duo ran out of space, they scraped together funds to triple the size of the concrete kiln pad and kept building. Over the years, students and visiting artists contributed, each becoming a part of OHIO鈥檚 incredible atmospheric firing story:

• Ted Adler, MFA 鈥�02, designed and built a Bourry box kiln that still stands today. He now is a and at .
• Mike Jabbur, MFA 鈥�08, built a small reduction gas glaze test kiln. Today he is a at .
• James Tingey, MFA 鈥�12, built a tube kiln before at , home to the No. 2 ceramics program in the country.
• During a student exchange, German ceramic artist Jochen Dobers of built a unique updraft salt kiln, which has a companion kiln at Dobers鈥� university in Halle, Germany.

鈥淚f a student or an artist comes here and has an idea for a kiln that would really support their work, we鈥檒l build the thing,鈥� Schwieger says. 鈥淣ot everybody will do that.鈥�

Alumni outside of the ceramics program have left their mark as well. The newly renovated building next to the kiln yard reopened this fall as the Levy Ceramics Studio, named for a gift that honors the family of Dave Levy, BS 鈥�78, and Cathy Levy.

鈥淓verything came together in this amazing way,鈥� says Dave, who is also a former member of The 帝王会所 Foundation Board. While neither he nor Cathy are ceramicists themselves, Dave鈥檚 mother 鈥渨as absolutely passionate as a potter, and it was contagious,鈥� he recalls.

That, plus Cathy鈥檚 position on the Chaddock + Morrow College of Fine Arts Leadership Council, meant the gift 鈥渃hecked a lot of boxes,鈥� Cathy adds. 鈥淚t helped a fabulous program that is nationally recognized, and it鈥檚 wonderful to be associated with that. 鈥� Hopefully we鈥檙e setting an example of what people like us can do and motivating others to follow that example.鈥�

Schwieger鈥檚 passion for atmospheric firing and 鈥渓et鈥檚 build the thing鈥� mindset defined OHIO鈥檚 ceramics program over a 30-year span. In 2009, he found a partner in Tom Bartel, who joined the ceramics faculty and brought a more sculptural approach to his work. But when Schwieger decided to retire in 2022, Bartel knew they needed to hire someone who would keep the atmospheric firing going.

Around the same time, fate brought Stuart Gair, BA 鈥�12, back to Athens. Gair had studied history as an undergrad, but met his future wife in one of Schwieger鈥檚 ceramics classes. He fell in love with her and with clay, ending up at the for an MFA in ceramics. He went on to be an artist-in-residence at and the , but decided to return 鈥渉ome鈥� and purchase property that had once served as the Big Chimney Baking Co. This summer, Gair and his wife, Kristie (Schleich) Gair, BFA 鈥�13, reopened the property as studio and gallery.

Gair鈥檚 artistic scholarship and passion had been specifically in soda firing, and he has extensive experience with various types of atmospheric kilns.

鈥淓very pot is individualized,鈥� says Gair, also an assistant professor of instruction in the ceramics program, about why he is drawn to this type of firing. 鈥淗aving a pot coming out of the kiln that has a flame path on it and was placed in the kiln in a particular way to enhance the form 鈥� that鈥檚 going to create a strong connection between the maker and the vessel.

鈥淏ut the main thing this kind of firing does is, it creates community. It brings people together in a way that nothing else can in terms of ceramics, or really any type of art. During the firing itself, even if you鈥檙e not on shift, people tend to hang around the kiln. ... You鈥檙e making connections with people in a different way than you would in just a classroom session.鈥�

Gair envisions an exciting next chapter for OHIO ceramics that is even more connected to the region and is centered around artists working in community. A new student group, Club Clay, has already begun experimenting with an upcycled wood kiln at his home studio. With leadership from MFA students Jason Wang and Sam McCall, OHIO鈥檚 first Atmospheric Firing Conference took place in early June, featuring nine kiln firings by 10 artists.

As for Schwieger, he鈥檚 still making and selling pottery at his home studio and enjoying watching the next generation of leadership.

鈥淚 love seeing it all continue to grow, and I鈥檓 excited to see what they do next,鈥� Schwieger says, adding that he鈥檚 confident the opportunity to experiment with building and firing kilns will continue to attract young artists who will leave their own mark on the program and the future of ceramics for decades to come.

Robin Oliver is the vice president of University Communications and Marketing.

Feature photo: Jason Wang, MFA 鈥�25, checks a kiln in OHIO鈥檚 kiln yard. Wang was one of two ceramics graduate students who organized last summer鈥檚 inaugural 帝王会所 Atmospheric Conference. Photo by Ben Wirtz Siegel, BSVC 鈥�02