Jeanette Blain | Staff Writer |@JeanetteBlain
If you are struggling to find unique Christmas presents on a student budget, this year, the solution to finding the perfect gift may closer than you think.
UVU Clay Club will be selling a variety of handcrafted work, from small mugs and bowls to larger art pieces, Monday, Dec. 8 through Tuesday, Dec. 9, in room GT 340 from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The event is a way for students, faculty and community members to buy artwork at a discounted price (typically $5-$40 per piece), and also provides a venue for art students to showcase their work.
Proceeds from the sale are matched by UVU and will help fund the club’s trip to the National Council for Ceramic Arts’s 49th Annual Conference in March 2015. The conference is a valuable opportunity for UVU students who may not get much exposure to the broader pottery world.
Lab tech and student, Elise McCluskey, said the annual holiday sale is another entry way into the professional world. For her, it is valuable practice in creating the artistic identity she will need in the art marketplace after she graduates.
Ceramics professor Mark Talbert, who has 40 years of pottery experience, believes that even a highly skilled student can gain confidence from selling their work.
“It’s good for students to understand that their work has value,” Talbert said.
According to Talbert, the holiday sale started 11 years ago with only a small table’s worth of artwork. It has since grown to include hundreds of offerings and its popularity has spread to the wider community. Every year, the department receives calls from Orem residents asking about the event, so students are advised to come early for the best selection.
All the sale items are made by UVU Clay Club members, advanced ceramics students, and Professors Mark Talbert and Brian Jensen. The works include functional ceramics, which can be used for everyday life, and non-functional ceramics, which are used for display.
The UVU Clay Club also hosts a Mother’s Day sale and up to two Bowl-a-thons throughout the school year. For Bowl-a-thons, the club comes together to give back to the community by making bowls which they donate to “Bowls for Humanity,” a fundraiser sponsored by the Food and Care Coalition in Provo.
