Let’s Get Fired Up! Clay Raku Firing and Indigo Shibori Workshops Spark Creativity

Two exciting workshops are creating quite the buzz at the Dayton Art Institute. In conjunction with the Special Exhibition, Washi Transformed, and the Focus Exhibition, Born of Fire, these unique and engaging experiences focus on the Japanese artforms of paper and ceramics.

Our first Clay Raku Firing Workshop was held in July. After glazing a clay object of their choice, nearly 50 participants were able to watch in awe as their object was set aflame, using the Japanese Raku firing process, and transformed into a unique item adorned in colorful metallic hues of color, which can only be achieved using this special firing technique. This outdoor event was facilitated by our museum education team and Geno Luketic, an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Dayton and potter from Waynesville, Ohio.

This style of workshop is unique to the DAI, and one of our more ambitious workshops to date, as the audience safely viewed the fiery 2,000-degree pottery process in action and had their work glazed, fired and returned to them, thoroughly cooled, within a one-hour time frame. Both offerings of the Clay Raku Firing Workshops had incredible turnout.

In addition to the Clay Raku Firing Workshops, our education team is hosting two Indigo Shibori Paper Workshops in August and September. Excitingly, both workshops sold out quickly, and we are so happy to see such enthusiasm from the community. This workshop will use washi paper and silk to explore the Japanese dyeing technique of shibori to create unique patterned designs on paper with natural indigo pigments. Participants will learn the history of shibori and make several artworks to take home, including a shibori silk scarf. Our expert for the Shibori Paper Workshops is our very own Yeck Artist-inResidence,Tommy Ballard. Tommy is an artist, writer and educator from Dayton, Ohio. Tommy recently finished his community collaborative fabric installation Trails and Traces for the recent exhibition Stories in Cloth in the Lange Family Experiencenter. Our team is eager to see the one-of-a-kind original designs participants will create at these upcoming workshops.

Please see the museum’s website and website calendar to learn more about all the amazing community programs offered at the DAI. www.daytonartinstitute.org/create-learn/adult-programs

Dr. Shannon Peck-Bartle

Education & Community Engagement Director

Dr. Peck-Bartle is a seasoned educator and anthropologist working at the intersection of community education, heritage and art. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Applied Anthropology and a doctorate degree in Curriculum and Instruction Design, both from the University of South Florida. Dr. Peck-Bartle served as a classroom educator for 17 years with Hillsborough County Public Schools, an adjunct professor for Hillsborough Community College for five years, and an adjunct professor for the University of South Florida for three years. While at USF, she served as a curriculum developer for the InsideART program with the Contemporary Art Museum. Her work with this organization led to the development of the Rose Hill Cemetery PlaceBased Learning Project, a grant funded program focused on recentering hidden African American history and erased African American cemeteries in local school districts.

Shortly after the discovery of several erased African American cemeteries in the Tampa Bay area, Dr. Peck-Bartle’s unique background and experience in K-12 education and applied anthropology led to several community appointments including the curricular lead for the Ridgewood Cemetery Historic Response Committee, the Hillsborough County Public School African American History Task Force and the community liaison for the African American Cemetery Alliance of Tampa Bay. In 2022, Dr. Peck-Bartle worked with local legislative leaders to pass FL HB 4815 African American Cemetery Education Tampa Bay, an appropriations project which preserves and memorializes erased African American cemeteries and history through educational programming, community art and immersive museum exhibits. Most recently, Dr. Peck-Bartle was the Director of Education with the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida.

When Dr. Peck-Bartle is not walking the gallery floors of museums, teaching in the classroom or working in cemeteries, she enjoys reading, gardening and spending time with her family at local community festivals and sporting events!