Students will enjoy the messy, hands-on process of creating pottery.
High school art classes should explore a variety of artistic mediums. If the school has a budget for specialized ceramics equipment like a kiln and potter's wheels, many students will enjoy this highly tactile form of art. If the school doesn't have a kiln, consider firing students' work at a local college. By thinking creatively, a wider variety of projects become feasible.
Self-Portrait
Have students create self-portraits, sculpting a bust of their head and neck. First show students create the basic form, keeping proportions as accurate as possible, and then add features like the eyes, nose and mouth, suggests Cindy Hiers on Princeton Online. Since this project can be quite bulky and use a lot of clay, you might opt to have students create a smaller portrait featuring just their face. After firing this project, they can lay it flat on a desk as a decoration.
Pinched Pots
If you have no potter's wheels, or just want students to try a different style of pottery, have them create hand-shaped pots. After working the air bubbles out of a piece of clay, students should form it into a ball and then begin to press in the middle with their fingertips to form a bowl shape. Gradually they shape it into a larger bowl or pot. This project teaches patience and helps students to realize that a piece doesn't have to be perfect to be functional and beautiful. In fact, the imperfections of a pinched pot are part of its beauty.
Jewelry
To create jewelry, students can use rolling pins or just their hands to flatten a piece of clay to the desired size and thickness. Then, they use an X-Acto knife to cut out beads or a large, flat pendant, adding holes for stringing wire or string through. Offer different colors of clay and allow students to mix colors to form large beads, form the holes with a toothpick and bake them in the cafeteria oven.
Abstract Art
Students tend to strive for highly realistic art when creating sculptures, but encourage them to think outside of the box, too. Have them choose an ordinary object like a flower pot, spoon, alarm clock or feet, and create an abstract version of it. A pot could be twisted rather than uniform, for instance, giving the sense of movement. Likewise, an alarm clock could have feet and look like it's jumping into the air. Students might have a specific message that they want to convey through the work, or just experiment with reshaping ordinary forms.
Ceramic Tiles
Have students create a collaborative ceramic tile project, then create a permanent display of the tiles on a school wall or in the garden. Teach students about Majolica glaze, which is created by applying colorful glaze over a background of white glaze. Students will love creating pretty and funky patterns on their tiles.
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