‘Art of Clay’ exhibit open at university

WAYNESBURG – Students at Waynesburg University learned they can leave their mark on their school – in clay.
The ceramic installation that university art professor Andrew Heisey designed last year and students helped him finish by carving into its surface usually hangs on the wall upstairs at Benedum Hall on campus.
Now, it’s a centerpiece of the “Art of Clay” show that will be in the Benedum Fine Arts Gallery until Feb. 19. The clay tile installation piece is a commanding presence on the gallery wall, surrounded by work from Heisey and 14 artists, mostly from Washington and Greene counties, but some who hail from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, West Virginia, Maryland and Florida.
“I wanted my students to see the range of style and form clay can become.” Heisey said.
Heisey’s own mentor, Karl Beamer, a retired professor from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, hand-delivered an assortment of glazed pieces for the show that caused one student to ask Heisey why one big urn was worth more than $4,000.
“Because it took 10 days of continuous firing in a wooden kiln to produce such a one-of-a-kind piece,” Heisey explained.
“It’s worth every dollar of that in man hours,” added Heisey.
Opening his smartphone, Heisey brought up photos of Beamer inserting spears of hardwood into a small opening in his Japanese-style kiln. Over 10 days of firing, the temperature is gradually brought to the point that the wood explodes into flame the moment they’re inserted.
By the fifth day, the natural silica in the clay body of the unglazed pots begins to fuse into its own glassy glaze and combines with the ash in the hardwood to form colors. Like Raku, another wood-fired glazing process, each piece produces its own unique patterning.
Even a cup produced this way sells for hundreds of dollars, Heisey said.
“It’s an incredible process to do,” he said. “The fire is unbelievably hot.”
Student artist Rosemary Aquilina smiled as she held one of her pieces from an arrangement of flowerpots that had every surface carved and glazed in a whimsical homage to herbs. As a general studies major at Community College of Allegheny County, Aquilina said the quality of her work is leading her to consider going to California University of Pennsylvania for a career in art education or to Pitt for a degree in art history.
Aquilina was happy that a friend from Cal U. alerted her to the exhibit and ecstatic Heisey accepted her work.
“I’m always looking for an opportunity to show,” she said.
Getting new artists into the gallery “helps my students see the creativity of others and understand the range that clay has, from sculptural to functional, traditional to unusual,” Heisey said.
Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or by appointment. For more information, call 724-852-3274.