From hand building to wheel throwing, the Ceramics program will fully equip you with the techniques and skills needed for contemporary and non-traditional approaches to ceramics. Our faculty emphasize the realization of individual goals and focus on the exploration of ideas and materials to create an atmosphere of diversity. Ceramics is a concentration within the Studio Art B.F.A. program.
Ohio University is home to the nation’s No. 3-ranked Master of Fine Arts in ceramics and the top U.S. program outside of an arts academy. OHIO’s reputation has been built, quite literally, brick by brick, fueled by an ever-growing and evolving cadre of atmospheric kilns designed and constructed over the years by students and visiting artists who have gone on to lead ceramics departments and fill gallery shelves around the world.
All incoming first-year students who wish to pursue a degree in Art +Design are encouraged to submit a portfolio for talent scholarship consideration. Students who wish to pursue a B.F.A. degree in Studio Art, Interior Architecture or Graphic Design should submit a portfolio at the time of application. All students will have the opportunity to submit an updated portfolio for program and concentration application during the fall and spring semesters.
After completing the Foundations program and taking four 2000-level studio art classes (two classes may be in progress during time of application), students must submit an application to the ceramics concentration.
OHIO is committed to your lifelong success through our Guarantee+, which offers fixed tuition and fees, a graduation plan and lifelong benefits to our students. We're continuously striving to make college more affordable and accessible, while maintaining the high quality and value of an OHIO education.
Our Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships provides services to students and parents both in-person and remotely. You can visit our office on the ground floor of Chubb Hall or reach us at financial.aid@ohio.edu or 740.593.4141.
Tom Bartel, professor of ceramics, grew up on the Erie shores of Cleveland, Ohio, and is known for his disturbing and humorous fragmented figures that take cues from a “shotgun blast” of influences ranging from antiquity to popular culture. He has lectured, conducted workshops and exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally.
Brian Dieterle is a ceramic technician, assistant director the School of Art + Design, and an Instructor of Art in the Ceramics and the Foundation Programs. He previously worked at Pewabic Pottery, a historic tile and vessel production facility, managing the kiln rooms, firing work, assembling commercial and privately commissioned projects, and making vessels.
Stuart Gair grew up in Northeast Ohio where his interests in local materials, historiography and the ceramic process first began. He often references past cultures and civilizations in his work as a way to understand specific groups through the objects they created. Gairs recent research has focused on alternative ways to firing soda kilns.
View Courses & Requirements in the Official Academic Catalog
The Studio Art B.F.A. program requires a minimum of 128 semester hours. Students take courses in Foundations, Art History and Studio that include topics ranging from historical through contemporary issues in art, technical demonstrations, and rigorous critiques of student work.
Art + Design Foundations Program
Concentrations: The Studio Art B.F.A. is composed of the following areas of concentration: Ceramics, Digital Art + Technology, Painting + Drawing, Photography + Integrated Media, Printmaking, and Sculpture + Expanded Practice. Students select one of these concentrations to focus on in their last two years of study; however, they are not limited to working in any one specific medium.
Advising: Each student is assigned an advisor within their selected area of concentration and has regular contact with all faculty in that area. Students easily develop community among their peers through regular use of the studio facilities and extra-curricular activities.
Studio Art Practicum/Thesis: All students must complete a practicum and courses and exhibit their work at the senior thesis show.
For more information on the Ceramics concentration, contact Tom Bartel, Professor of Ceramics, at bartelt@ohio.edu or 740.566.6459.
Please request application information regarding admission as a student using the form below.