After multiple fundraising events, like Cause Momentum or Give Ozarks, and art sales from ceramic students selling their creations, Drury has finally been able to purchase a new kiln for the Pool Arts Center (PAC).

Associate professor and PAC Gallery Directer, Rebecca Miller, shares what the journey of attaining a new kiln has been like.

“The process of raising funds to purchase the kiln and construction costs to house it took several years. The kiln was ordered this past March from Bailey Pottery Company and delivered in September,” she said.

The new kiln is the product of the efforts of many students and faculty members across campus, including former professor David Cogorno.

Photo via Sami Ditmars.

Sami Ditmars, a fine arts major emphasizing in ceramics and photography, said that Cogorno began raising funds for a kiln after he took his students to the National Convention for Education in the Ceramic Arts in 2016. At the convention, there were several kilns for sale.

“After that, we all expressed interest, and he started trying to get the kiln for us,” said Ditmars. “David did a ton to get this kiln. He worked with donors, talked with the school and researched the best fitting kiln for the school to try and get the best he could for Drury and for his students.”

Senior Allyson Dougherty, a strategic communications major, remembers working with Cogorno during departmental events like throwing pottery on the circle and ceramics sales.

“We used to have a ceramics sale at the end of every semester. Every product that he [Cogorno] created and sold would go towards the kiln. There were several times that he ended up making the majority of the sales products,” said Dougherty.

Students helped in other ways besides selling their work. Ditmars explained that many students asked their families to write to the school to show their support of the kiln. Students even started a petition, collecting signatures of support from the student body.

This addition to campus will help students advance their art.

“The new kiln will allow art students to explore different techniques within the discipline of ceramics, allowing higher firing temperatures to accommodate different clays and glazes,” Miller explained. “The Art & Art History program uses both electric, and now, a gas kiln to create ceramic works of art.”

Students, like Ditmars and Dougherty, have already been able to use the kiln. Ditmars helped light the kiln, and was taught how to operate it as the ceramics technician. Dougherty has fired several mugs, and is currently working on a mixing bowl set.

Drury’s new kiln is not just another instrument used to manufacture art. Dougherty said it best: “The new kiln means growth in the art form itself.”

Article by Kelli Volonte.