In Episode 4, we’re meeting some amazing people who are literally transforming lives in very real and tangible ways. It might seem ludicrous to think that a previously incarcerated person, or an undocumented immigrant, or someone forced to use foodbanks to feed their children might have any use for clay, but we meet people in this episode who prove otherwise. Going back to America, we hear from two incredible projects, The People’s Pottery Project and Touching Land. The PPP is a pottery studio run by and for previously incarcerated women, trans and non-binary people; one of their founders, Ilka Perkins, tells us of her experience in the prison system and how clay has changed her life. Touching Land is an inspiring project in Brooklyn run by Carolina Rubio MacWright, using clay to teach undocumented immigrants their legal rights. In the UK, we look at two projects, The New Linthorpe Pottery and The Portland Inn Project, that have centred clay as a way to support refugees, create community and literally rebuild what was one of the poorest streets in the U.K.  This episode was full of inspiring stories, I hope you enjoy it!

Abolitionist Resources:

There’s so much out there but these few were ones that really helped me:

- Freedom is a Constant Struggle Book by Angela Y Davis Angela Davis is great any day of the week

- Forensic Architecture are really challenging how art and political commentary meet
https://forensic-architecture.org/

- Abolitionist Futures blew my mind. So much on their website and if you can sign in for one of their reading groups, I highly recommend. https://abolitionistfutures.com/resources

- Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights Book by Juno Mac and Molly Smith. Not specifically about abolition, but really interesting manifesto on the intersections of national boarder control, the prison industrial complex, women's rights and immigration.

Ilka Perkins 
https://www.peoplespotteryproject.com
@peoplespotteryproject

Rebecca Davies and Anna Francis 
https://www.theportlandinnproject.com
@theportlandinnprojectcic

Carolina Rubio MacWright 
https://www.touchingland.org
@touchinglandorg

Emily Hesse 
https://www.emilyhesse.com/new-linthorpe
@emhesse 

Episode 3 is out and we’re delving deeper into the role of the artist in society, and specifically clay as a tool to support those in mental health crisis, with disability and those effected by dementia. There’s a long history of art therapy and I’m sure plenty of science to back up what we, as artists working with vulnerable communities, witness – that clay and the arts are good for the soul and integral to a wholehearted life. It can even be life saving. 

I’m not and do not pretend to be a medical professional or to have any training in social care, and most of the amazing artists I speak to in this episode are just that – artists, not medical professionals! However, what we have to offer this sector is something truly amazing, and with the right support, something transformational can happen. Dementia sufferers can learn new skills, people who’ve experienced trauma can reconnect to the world, and those with disabilities can improve their quality of life. There’s some really uplifting stories and testimonials in this episode, and hopefully some new ideas and proof that we’d all be better off with clay and art as a central column of our life.

Brigit Connolly https://www.rca.ac.uk/students/brigit-connolly/
Janna Edwards 15 Days in Clay  www.15daysinclay.co.uk
Helen Lee @helenleeceramics
Katie Spragg  @katie_spragg_ceram and Janine Nelson @gardenmuseum

Leading on from themes of education and the decline in university courses in Episode One, Episode Two looks at alternatives to formal education and the rise of open studios and independent art schools. We meet some of the leading pottery studios in the UK who are challenging traditional economic models and providing university standard training for a wide demographic of people. Setting this against a wider movement of alternative art schools that have started to pop up in the wake of rising course fees, we also discuss the role of the artist in society and hop over to America to meet The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, to hear about the responsibility of ceramic studios to 'move well' into areas in a meaningful and mutually beneficial way for both the organisation and the communities they're working with.

A shout out here as well because I only managed to speak to an all white cast for this episode and there’s some amazing initiatives that are foregrounding Black and Brown histories and art practices and decentring the dominant white washing of the art world and education at large. Absolutely look up, support and go educate yourselves at 

Black Blossoms @blackblossoms.online 

Mudbelly Teaches @mudbellyceramics 

Pot LA @pot_LA 

…to name but a few doing this incredible work!

Contributors to Episode Two:

Stuart Carey @thekilnrooms, Mark Essen @modern_clay, 

Polly Brannan @openschooleast, Jennifer Zwilling @theclaystudiophl 

In Episode 1 we ask the question: where has all the clay gone? In the UK, we've gone from a kiln in every school and over 30 BA specialist courses to just 2 in the space of about 30 years. Speaking to veteran educators who have lived through this decline in HE education, we track the reasons for this against rising course fees and the general shifts in university models, and discuss what this means for the discipline. 

Far from going quietly into the night, however, clay has never been more popular, with  a huge rise in community and adult education spaces opening across the UK. We ask what is community ceramics, where has it come from and how the impact of popularist TV show The Great British Thrown Down has changed the landscape of who and how people access clay education.  

Contributors to Episode One:
Duncan Hooson @claygroundcollective
Christie Brown @xienbrownceramics
Ingrid Murphy @ingridamurphy
Tony Quinn @confederacy_of_dunces
Rich Miller @richmillerpots
Kate Malone @Kate_malone_cermaics
Jack Tan @jackkytan

Clay Commons was written, narrated and produced by Eva Masterman 

Executive Producer and editing by Aiwan Obinyan, edited and produced by AiAi Studios @aiai.studios

Artwork by Kelly Jade @crouchingbean

Supported by:

The Subject Specialist Network at the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA),York Art Gallery

Arts Council England 

Newcastle University

Clay Commons: A podcast about community ceramics and clay as force for good

Clay Commons is a six-part podcast hosted by artist and educator Eva Masterman, launching in August 2021, with a new episode released weekly. Join Eva and a host of artists, educators and activists exploring what community ceramic practice is, and how it might offer alternative solutions to arts education and create new systems of value and equity in society.

This podcast uses the term community ceramics to refer to organisations or individuals that use clay as a tool for engaging with or providing skills-based learning to communities outside of formal education. This encompasses a huge range of practice, including but not exclusive to; clay workshops with dementia patients, offering job opportunities and training for previously incarcerated trans womxn of colour, to studios offering specialist clay courses in the wake of declining formal arts education. 

We’ll hear from artists and educators from the UK and America who are creating new spaces for teaching and learning that challenge who has access to material knowledge, community leaders and organisations who are harnessing clay as a force for social justice, arts groups that are at the forefront of local regeneration, revitalising communities, and generally speak to a host of people exploring how this material is quite literally transforming lives.