Last summer, two College of Arts and Letters students, one current and one former, spent three months in Goshen, Ind. expanding their artistic experiences by building a new wood kiln alongside well-known studio ceramic artist and cofounder of the Union Project, Justin Rothshank.
Craig Hartenberger, junior BFA in ceramics, and Zach Tate, 2008 BFA graduate in ceramics and current MFA candidate at Texas Tech University, traveled to Goshen to broaden their minds as artists.
Hartenberger explained that as a visual artist, he does artistic research every day. He gains inspiration from things he sees and by living in a different part of the country, that was part of his research.
“Deciding to build the kiln was a no-brainer,” Hartenberger said. “It is a great thing for a resume, a great experience to have, it teaches you a lot and it’s just fun.”
Although the process of building a kiln is fairly simple, Hartenberger has learned that the most tedious part of the process is leveling the foundation and installing the floor but beyond that, it is just simple masonry work.
“You have to consider how fire behaves throughout the building process,” Hartenberger explained. “You want to design the interior of the kiln in a way that allows you to have control over the fire that will eventually be inside.”
In addition to building the kiln, Hartenberger lived with a local farming family who traded a couple days of work on their farm and in exchange they gave him a place to stay while he was in Goshen.
“The most memorable part was a culmination of the little experiences that formed a bigger picture,” Hartenberger said. “It gave me a clarity of what I want to do with my career and also seeing the way that people (who) live on the farm (that I stayed at) have respect for everything and everyone.”
The success of the kiln building project was dependent on the donations of supplies and time by people in the Goshen area.
“The cool thing to see was the sense of community that this project created,” Hartenberger said. “People in the area donated bricks and time and it gave the project a sense of collaboration because you get to talk to people who understand what you do.”
Hartenberger and Tate are featured in the most recent issue of Studio Potter in an article highlighting their experiences in Goshen.
Studio Potter is a biannual journal published by the non-profit organization of the same name that promotes discussion of technology, criticism, aesthetics and history within the ceramics community.