Senior art major with a concentration in ceramics, Jessica Warner, packs up some of her ceramic work as well as the work of other students and her instructor, Dennis Sipiorski. 
Amber Grace Garrard/The Lion's Roar

Buying Christmas gifts on a college budget can be quite the challenge. 

Students were able to purchase a variety of functional art on a budget at the pottery sale the university’s ceramics club held on Nov. 28 and 29.

Both student and instructor work has been sold, generally between $5 and $15, for the past 14 years to raise money for the ceramics club. Some of the pottery available were mugs, bowls, plates and pots. 

“A certain percentage goes to the ceramics club,” said a club member Jessica Warner, a senior art major with a concentration in ceramics. “It’s always great to support local artists. Nowadays, you can go into Target and buy a mug for $10, but it’s a factory-made mug. There’s a thousand like it, but all of this stuff, even when you make a set, each one is unique.”

The sale also gave students the opportunity to become more acquainted with what it is like to sell their work which is what they will be doing upon graduation. 

“This is hopefully practice for what I will be doing after I graduate,” said Warner. “I would like to have my own studio and sell my own work. You get to see who is purchasing the item, how they react to it and what they are buying it for.” 

Ceramic instructor Dennis Sipiorski started the club with equipping students for their life as working artists in mind.

“When I was a student, they used to have pottery sales and it gave the students a chance to sell the work that they’ve made,” said Sipiorski. “They find out that somebody wants it. That they made something that somebody wants. They learn how to talk to people that are buying, and they get an idea of what people are buying. If they are going to do it for a living, they are going to have to do it for the rest of their lives. This is a good place to start.” 

Ceramic sales happen throughout the year and help raise money for a $10,000 scholarship going to a student who is dedicated to ceramics as well as other events that the club holds.

“They talk to me and apply, they have to have a grade point average, they have to have a good body of work and then I reward a scholarship once a year,” said Sipiorski. “Luckily, the people in the community have been really good about supporting the sale over the years.”