A major in Ceramics offers a rigorous, hands-on investigation of clay as a multifaceted medium with great expressive possibilities. Students explore the rich multicultural history of ceramic objects and through interaction with professors, peers and visiting artists, are able to grasp the full range of contemporary practices and ideas.
Degree programs
- BFA
- 4-year undergraduate degree
- MFA
- 2-year graduate degree
In the studio
Ceramics majors experiment with throwing, building, molding, glazing, firing and developing new techniques using specialized tools and equipment, including workstations for handling digital images, glaze formulation and remote kiln firing.
Eleanor Pereboom | Brown|RISD dual degree student
“In Ceramics students develop an intimate understanding of the medium by looking at clay and glaze from a wide range of perspectives. The diverse ways we work in the studio—as sculptors, potters, product designers, architects and more—largely comes from a community-based approach to learning and a strong work ethic that runs through the department. Students bring their own artistic and technical backgrounds to the studio, creating a varied and constantly developing space for sharing knowledge.”
Student work
Lesley Baker | department head
“The study of ceramics results in a wide spectrum of applications – from fine art sculpture, to studio pottery, to architectural projects. The fact that our department is part of a school of both fine art and design allows us to collaborate across disciplines while maintaining the highest level of discipline-specific ceramic education.”
Regardless of the path they choose after graduation, Ceramics alumni are original thinkers and skilled artists capable of using their creative talents in a variety of meaningful ways. Alumni go into teaching, establish studio practices, design products, create prototypes, specialize as muralists, run galleries, work on commission and pursue all sorts of interesting work that makes use of their expertise in spatial design.
Alumni at work
Nicole Cherubini BFA 93 | Sculptor
New York-based artist Nicole Cherubini works largely in sculpture and mixed media. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions at such institutions as the Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia, PA), the Jersey City Museum (Jersey City, NJ) and the Santa Monica Museum of Art (Los Angeles, CA). She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions across the US and beyond. Her work has been reviewed in Art in America, Artforum, Art News, Bomb, Frieze Magazine, The New York Times and The New Yorker.
Arlene Shechet MFA 78 | sculptor
Dividing her time between studios in Manhattan and upstate New York, Arlene Shechet creates sculpture from clay, but keeps her hand in a variety of materials—including plaster, paper pulp and glass. Critics and the public applauded her 2015 retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and New York Times art critic Roberta Smith has called her ceramic work “sexy, devout, ugly and beautiful all at the same time.” Shechet serves as an occasional visiting critic at RISD and credits her experiences here with exposing her to “a lot of materials and processes, ideas and images—and perhaps most importantly, conversations.”
