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throwing away abandoned projects

updated sun 1 oct 06

 

Paul Herman on fri 29 sep 06


Scott,

You have got to break the stuff up, so the students don't want it any
more, Shards. I think it will be best if they make and glaze their
own work.

Best,

Paul Herman

Great Basin Pottery
Doyle, California US
http://greatbasinpottery.com


On Sep 29, 2006, at 12:52 PM, Scott Harrison wrote:

> some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
> dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
> What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
> the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...
>
> Scott Harrison
> South Fork High School
> Humboldt Redwoods
> Upstate CA
>

Claudia MacPhee on fri 29 sep 06




Wow-a constant theme for me. My kids at school are a mobile lot. Here one year, away for a semester, back again, gone for another year. They are also like a school of piranas, anything even perceived as abandoned starts the "Can I have this???" No matter about all their own stuff they no longer want or think is ugly.....wish they would think that BEFORE it gets fired.

  There are times I have kept work for years waiting for a kid to return. Other times I let them glaze and have whatever is overflowing the shelves. Can't see the point of throwing it out when someone else wants it. Aside from the fact that there are no dumpsters to huck it into, anything that gets into the trash dump is put in personally!

Claudia MacPhee, Tagish, Yukon


Scott Harrison on fri 29 sep 06


I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...

Scott Harrison
South Fork High School
Humboldt Redwoods
Upstate CA

A Kettner on fri 29 sep 06


Some schools will take and glaze stuff left behind for the annual
pottery sale and the proceeds go to the studio. So dumpster diving for
things you like is perfectly OK in my opinion. Plus, once in the trash
doesn't that become public property?

Arthur

On 9/29/06, Scott Harrison wrote:
> I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
> projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
> glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
> today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
> dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
> What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
> the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...
>
> Scott Harrison
> South Fork High School
> Humboldt Redwoods
> Upstate CA
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>

Mike Gordon on fri 29 sep 06


Scott, I had the same problem when I taught h.s. , at the end of the
year I would tell the office staff that there were pots for free! they
would come and take a lot for gifts, desk tops, etc. then the word got
out and a teacher's association rep came by and took a lot of them to
give to the new teachers for the next year, a pot for their desk- for
pencils, etc. she also put a pot on each table at the new teacher
welcome lunch with flowers. The rest went into the dumpster. I found
that some of the kids who said they wanted some pots to take home -
really wanted to launch them in the parking lot.Mike Gordon
On Sep 29, 2006, at 12:52 PM, Scott Harrison wrote:

> I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
> projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
> glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
> today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
> dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
> What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
> the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...
>
> Scott Harrison
> South Fork High School
> Humboldt Redwoods
> Upstate CA
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>

Warren Heintz on fri 29 sep 06


Hi,

I a have also taught in high schools and have have the same experience with students trying to lay claim to work left behind. My response was and will always be a resounding ,"no". But instead of the dumpster,there was a drainage ditch that had a very soupy mud bottom that became the resting place for such pieces. Figured that I'd give future archeologists something to ponder. Warren
Scott Harrison wrote:
I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...

Scott Harrison
South Fork High School
Humboldt Redwoods
Upstate CA

______________________________________________________________________________
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You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

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linda rosen on fri 29 sep 06


A pile of Projects ALWAYS get left behind at our school, some nice stuff
too. It seems to be "out of sight out of mind" with some teens. We use =
this
characteristic as a fund raising opportunity ( always strapped for cash) =
if
the work is finished (note: I am talking garage sale prices and a =
strictly
in-school event). Secretaries buy themselves pencil holders, kids buy
birthday gifts for moms. Abandoned bisque is used for glaze tests. =
Anything
glazed by someone other than the original maker is signed with the =
school
initials, not the glazer's initials. That stuff often ends up in the =
annual
cleanup sale too. If we have a lot of bisque hanging around , it is a =
good
thing because the kids NEED glazing practice, and will be more =
adventurous
when marks are not involved. This practice leads to more success on =
their
own projects. We buy things like videos or special tools with the =
proceeds
to enrich the classroom. Very nice work is scarfed by our principal for =
her
gift fund .
Linda Rosen , Toronto

-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Scott =
Harrison
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 3:53 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Throwing away abandoned projects

I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...

Scott Harrison
South Fork High School
Humboldt Redwoods
Upstate CA

_________________________________________________________________________=
___
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

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melpots@pclink.com.

Gary Harvey on fri 29 sep 06


The current students can use the bisqued items to practice glazing
techniques plus if they want them then that's less item for the dump. Does
it hurt anyone that the items are given away or discarded? My mother is in
her 80's and she picks up things off the side of the road to repair and turn
into a flower pot, etc. One persons junk is an other's gold. Gary Harvey,
Palestine TX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Harrison"
To:
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 2:52 PM
Subject: Throwing away abandoned projects


>I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
> projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
> glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
> today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
> dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
> What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
> the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...
>
> Scott Harrison
> South Fork High School
> Humboldt Redwoods
> Upstate CA
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>

Shaw Pottery on fri 29 sep 06


You could always use the piece for experimental glazing techniques,
texting color mixes, demonstration purposes?

>I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
>projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
>glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
>today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
>dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
>What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
>the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...
>
>Scott Harrison
>South Fork High School
>Humboldt Redwoods
>Upstate CA

Nancy Braches on fri 29 sep 06


If a student abandons a piece, I either use it as a demo for glazing, test tile for glazing or, if a new student wants to test glazing a piece I let them. I don't see any harm in it since you know where it came from and the clay body. Someone elses garbage is another's treasure. I smash all of my pieces that I chose to get rid of. When I was in a studio environment, I had the same thing where I would throw a piece away and another student would garbage pick it and glaze it. My problem...had my name on it and I didn't abandon it, I purposely threw it in the garbage.

nancy
hilltop pottery

Scott Harrison wrote: I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...

Scott Harrison
South Fork High School
Humboldt Redwoods
Upstate CA

______________________________________________________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.



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Elizabeth Priddy on fri 29 sep 06


I always glazed and fired the bowls left behind and
donated them to empty bowls with a note on each one
saying "made by local child". They were fought over
at the bowl event.

E


Elizabeth Priddy

Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com

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Donna Kat on sat 30 sep 06


On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 17:03:56 -0500, Gary Harvey
wrote:

>The current students can use the bisqued items to practice glazing
>techniques plus if they want them then that's less item for the dump. Does
>it hurt anyone that the items are given away or discarded? My mother is
in
>her 80's and she picks up things off the side of the road to repair and
turn
>into a flower pot, etc. One persons junk is an other's gold. Gary Harvey,
>Palestine TX
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Scott Harrison"
>To:
>Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 2:52 PM
>Subject: Throwing away abandoned projects
>
>
>>I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
>> projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
>> glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
>> today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
>> dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for themselves.
>> What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
>> the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...
>>
>> Scott Harrison
>> South Fork High School
>> Humboldt Redwoods
>> Upstate CA
>>

My mother (92) and I (58) love finding discarded items that can be
reclaimed and made into something of use. They actually have a show on
now where these guys go out and pick things up off the street, fix them up
into something nice and then return them to the owners.

I would say to take iron oxide and mark off your name and then allow
students to use them to learn how to glaze. After all glazing is a big
part of the craft and most beginning students are not productive enough to
be able to use there own pots to learn with.

Donna

Frank Gaydos on sat 30 sep 06


We usually have about a dozen decent bisque pieces left over and abondoned
each semester.
We glaze them and add to our pottery sale with the proceeds sending a bunch
of students to NCECA each year.
We usually generate about $3000.00 on average during our three day sale. The
abondoned work might add a hundred to the total.


Frank Gaydos

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Vince Pitelka on sat 30 sep 06


> You have got to break the stuff up, so the students don't want it any
> more, Shards. I think it will be best if they make and glaze their
> own work.

I have to second what Paul Herman says here. I would NEVER encourage a
student to do glaze tests on someone else's left-over bisque ware. I
understand the intent, but far better to require that the student make their
own glaze tests. They will take more care if they are using their own work.

For those who do studio sales to help support a school studio, I can
certainly understand glazing the work and selling it to raise money for
materials or equipment. That is a worthy fate for leftover bisque. And of
course I support EP's donation of leftover bowls to Empty Bowls fundraisers.
Otherwise, leftover bisque should go in the dumpster. It is inappropriate
and counter productivfe to have students glazing and firing someone else's
work as a glaze experiment.

Students need to learn that bisque ware is not precious. It is good for
them to see the leftover bisque unceremoniously dumped in the trash.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

sacredclay on sat 30 sep 06


In my classes in the past, I'd often put them in a box and tell
people thatthey are free for all to use to test glazes on.alot of
them liked that idea. I hate throwing out things made by children.
Those I'd dump onto the approprriate dept and let them try to
reunite them with the owners. Other than that, throw them out. Your
studio can't be used to store these things. If the others want to
keep them, let them. With my pieces,especailly if they have a defect
(s-cracks), I most often break them to keep others from using themn
Other than that, yes, there are worse things in the dumpster, but
why add to them? with warm regards, Kathrynas theirs.--- In
clayart@yahoogroups.com, Scott Harrison wrote:
>
> I teach in a high school with 4 Ceramics classes and sometimes
> projects get left behind and unclaimed. Often they are bisqued or
> glazed and cannot be reclaimed. I was throwing several pieces away
> today and some of the current students were aghast and wanted to
> dumpster dive to reclaim the pieces to glaze or take for
themselves.
> What would your positions be on such a thing? I feel I should throw
> the stuff away. There is worse stuff in landfills...
>
> Scott Harrison
> South Fork High School
> Humboldt Redwoods
> Upstate CA
>
>
_____________________________________________________________________
_________
> Send postings to clayart@...
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your
subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@...
>