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Professional Arts and Crafts: Sculpture

The Professional Arts and Crafts Program in clay and metal sculpture has a unique design and location. The program, the only one of its kind in North Carolina, was developed to teach artistic skills in pottery, clay sculpture, and metal sculpture.

What sets the CCCC program apart from other professional arts and crafts programs is the inclusion of entrepreneurial instruction that will assist in the planning, operation, and marketing of a professional craft studio and gallery. This program was created in response to the expanding interest in pottery, sculpture, and professional arts in the central region of North Carolina.

Students can become a part of an arts community when enrolled in the CCCC program. Located in an historic building in downtown Siler City, NC, the facilities are newly renovated and feature gas and electric kilns.

The program is one of many tenants in an innovative arts incubator called ncartsincubator.org located in Siler City, NC.

Developed with the assistance of the CCCC Small Business Center, this unique and historic community is rapidly being transformed into a creative center. Resident artists in a variety of mediums including painting, woodworking, sculpture, and pottery are joining forces in this small community located in the shadow of Chapel Hill, NC.

The course work in the Sculpture Program concentrates on the development of skills in clay and metal. Emphasis is placed on hands-on training. Courses in design, pottery, metal and clay sculpture, and basic welding give students needed fundamentals in this creative art form. Additional classes provide students with training in metal casting, glaze formulation, kiln design and construction, and advanced artistic design.

Without basic business skills, many creative craftsmen and artists are unsuccessful. Therefore, this curriculum introduces students to entrepreneurial fundamentals, PC literacy, business planning, and marketing strategies. Students can earn an Associate in Applied Science Degree that can be completed in two years as a full-time student. Shorter Diploma and Certificate Programs are also available. The curriculum classes are offered as daytime classes at the CCCC ceramics studio (map) and SAGE Academy (map).

The one-of-a-kind program can open creative doors and teaches you the skills necessary to succeed as a professional craftsman. Graduates can work with galleries or continue studies with established artists, as well as open their own businesses.

What Students Learn

Students successfully completing the Professional Arts & Crafts: Sculpture Program will be able to:

• Write and implement a viable business plan and seek funding for a Pottery and or Sculpture business.
• Produce a variety of functional pots, apply various types of surface treatments, and load and assist firing a kiln.
• Construct plaster molds and cast clay slip into them, remove, de-seam and clean greenware.
• Explain glaze chemical qualities and formulate new glazes.
• Design within site, customer, or other limitations and complete a design package for their personal marketing needs.
• Demonstrate efficient and safe use of metal shop tools and equipment. Students should be able to demonstrate the ability to design and construct metal sculptures as well as demonstrate advanced skills in the techniques of welding, forging, and casting metal sculpture.
• Form well-designed sculptures demonstrating the artistic concepts as applied to ceramics.
• Apply an enhanced understanding of the relationship between design concept, process, and product in two and three-dimensions.
• Build a conscious awareness of manipulating and communicating the formal as well as the conceptual content of their work (through writing).