Instructor: Mary Kenny
Monday - Thursday
August 18 - 21
9am - 2pm
4 sessions
Open Studio: Mon - Weds, 2pm - 4pm

Animals bring joy and wonder to our world. Artists have always enjoyed capturing their likeness in clay. In this course you will learn to sculpt an animal of your choosing from a patient and knowlagable instructor. We will use basic handbuilding techniques such as pinch pots, coils and slabs to create either a sculpture or a functional piece. Bring your sense of humor!

Born and raised in Boston, Mary attended UMass Dartmouth where she majored in Sculpture and went on to get her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts aka CalArts. After a few years teaching wood and metal working at Otis College of Art & Design in Playa del Rey, CA, she returned to the Boston area to work in the Department of Art, Film and Video at Harvard University where she managed the art studios for many years.

She has always loved drawing and crafting and learning about and looking at animals. After recovery from the highly conceptual and theory driven CalArts, she started making miniature animals in paper mache and later stop-motion animated videos. The themes were always that of man vs. nature, where man was not necessarily at the top of the food chain. She used many different materials for the characters and sets: paper, plastic film, tinfoil, fabric, everyday household materials, even dryer lint. She is also a self-taught seamstress and incorporate millinery and pattern making techniques into her ceramics practice. While taking a summer class at the Harvard Ceramics Program in 2012, she learned to love clay. Her work has been shown at the DeCordova in Lincoln, MA; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University; Mills Gallery at Boston Center for the Arts; The Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA to name a few.