Sonoma Community Center

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Complex Surfaces Made Simple; Repetition in Ceramic Casting

November 14 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

$85

Date: Thursday & Friday Nov. 14&15
Time: 2:00PM – 5:00PM
Instructor: Resident Artist Kate Rusek
Location: Kiln Shed Area
Ages: Adults
Skill Level: All Levels
Registration Fee: $85

Financial Aid Register Here

About the class

In this two day class, learn simple, approachable techniques to integrate casting techniques into your practice. On day one, we will cover the virtues of plaster use to augment your clay work and make easy to use plaster molds. On day two, we will use these new molds and plan hand build forms through pattern making tips and tricks.

Basic hand building experience encouraged. 

About the instructor

Kate Rusek

Resident Artist

Kate Rusek assembles highly tactile sculptures, textile, and installation with an emphasis on Craft and materiality. Her work transmutes wasting and waste matter into abundant, maximalist, composite forms and dynamic biophilic textures that interrogate assigned value, material narrative, and a rigid binary of ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’. Kate Rusek’s research, writing, and artwork examines the connective edges and dissonant intersections between humanity’s material culture and the natural world. Rusek received dual B.F.As from The University of Miami and an M.A from Savannah College of Art and Design. Rusek has been awarded residencies at The Archie Bray Foundation, Chulitna Lodge, The Hambidge Center, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, and Vermont Studio Center among others. She is the Devra Freelander Fellow at Socrates Sculpture Park for 2023 and the recipient of a Windgate Distinguished Fellowship for Innovation in Craft. Rusek has exhibited her work in New York, Los Angeles, across Montana and the Pacific Northwest. She will present a solo exhibition at Sonoma Ceramics to culminate her residency in the fall of 2024

    Questions and Answers

    • All Levels
    • Welcomes participants from beginning through advanced. Instructor provides a balanced and flexible curriculum suitable for participants with any level of experience.
    • Beginning
    • Participant has little to no experience with this medium and needs or expects guidance at every step during the class. Participant wants to learn about materials, techniques, and vocabulary of the medium.
    • Intermediate
    • Participant is comfortable with the medium and expects both guidance and time to work alone with the medium.
    • Advanced
    • Participant is very confident with all aspects of the medium. Participant is self-motivated; ready to experiment and develop their artistic voice.

    You can click on the images below to expand them.

    We ask that you notify us at least 10 days in advance of a class if you need to cancel your registration. You may cancel by phone or email and we will gladly offer you a refund or credit toward a future class. If you cancel with less than 10 days’ notice, we will not be able to provide refunds, due to our contractual obligations and material purchases for each class. 

    Sometimes, the Sonoma Community Center has to cancel a class due to low enrollment or unforeseen circumstances, such as a natural disaster or health emergency. If this happens and we do not offer a reschedule date, you will be refunded 100% of your registration fee, or credit towards a future class. If we are able to offer a reschedule date but you are unable to make the new date, we will gladly offer credit towards a future class.

    Late additions to any program, class, or workshop that has already begun will be allowed on a per-case basis depending upon the Program Director & instructors approval. Late additions will have to pay the full registration cost of the class, along with any materials fees, and will not be prorated for the time missed. You may reach out to the program directors directly, or the Program Associate Sean Baskin at sean@sonomacommunitycenter.org to request a late addition.

    We are always looking for new instructors. You can find more information about the process here, or fill out the form directly here.

    You can view our full class policies and guidelines here.

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