By Emalie Vera
During a trip to Maine, Rye High School Art Department Chair Tony Campbell came across chairs made from eco-friendly materials, designed by local college students and displayed throughout the town he was visiting.
The project inspired him to make changes to a course that was previously a sculpture class. He rewrote the course curriculum and included three-dimensional design. 3-D Art is now a part of the curriculum. The Form & Function Gallery at the Rye Arts Center last month reflected work from students taking ceramics, mixed media, and the 3-D design class.
“This year we were really excited to use the gallery to introduce excellent work from Ms. (Carla) Ricchiuti’s classes as she’s a new teacher in the district spearheading our sculpture and ceramic offerings,” Campbell said.
The ceramics class offered at Rye High School has been around for over 30 years and continues to be popular with students of all grades.
“I’ve always been interested in art, and ceramics,” said Félicia Collymore-Yance, who is just finishing 11th grade. “My mom also has the same passion and shared her experience, which made me more excited and secure to take on the subject.”
Ricchiuti, who took over the ceramics program, in 2023, is a former art student herself with a passion for pottery and 3-D art. She said she was able to find self-expression through her pieces and hopes to share the lessons she has learned with her students. “It’s nice to be able to take all of the things I’ve learned throughout the course of my art career and be able to pass it down to students and inspire them,” she said.
The course introduces students to essential techniques, including pinch pot, slab construction, coiling, additive and subtractive sculpting, and wheel throwing. When evaluating student work, Ricchiuti looks for originality and out-of-the-box thinking. She enjoys when students are able to make deep connections to their pieces that relate to a common theme throughout their art. She describes her class as a “fun and chill space.” Ceramics and 3-D classes have become a common choice for students planning to major in architecture in college.
“The program I am entering focuses a lot on modeling,” said Andrea Kamander, a senior. “I am hoping that my experience in ceramics with clay and in 3-D design and architecture with modeling software and foam-board will help me with that.” Kamander plans to attend the University of Toronto where she will be studying architecture.
Like any art class, ceramics comes with its own set of challenges. Pieces can break during the “bone dry” phase, or even explode in the kiln because of a trapped air bubble.
But those setbacks can teach patience and resilience. “The lessons I learned through patience are not just about endurance; they shape how I approach design itself, encouraging me to be deliberate, thoughtful, and attentive, rather than taking shortcuts and rushing toward a finished product,” said senior Alice Waddington, who will be majoring in architecture at Cornell University.
