By Molly Liebergall ’17 & Amanda Kaplowitz ’19

Bits of tape and artwork mark the walls in Room 1008, while numerous sculptures, stools and smocks occupy the clay-stained floor and shelves. Whereas social studies and science classes may pride themselves on tidiness, the A.P. Studio Art 3-D room, which centers around several pottery wheels, embraces messy creativity.

The class is specifically constructed for “highly motivated students”—according to the course catalog—who excel in art, who have already taken Pottery at Staples and who are comfortable with self-directing instead of following a standard curriculum.

“It’s your voice coming out in the work. I’m more of a guidance in this class and am not making projects up,” art teacher Jaclyn Jeselnik said.

Although there are fewer than ten students in the class, what they lack in numbers, they make up for in enthusiasm.

“It was, I think, my sophomore year, and I was walking [through] the hallway,” Will Lash ’17 said of his first time encountering A.P. Studio Art 3-D. “I saw someone throwing on the front wheel and I was like, ‘That absolutely looks crazy!’ because watching someone throw is literally magical […] so I was just like, ‘I need to take the course.’”

“Throwing” is the term used to describe the act of molding the shape, thickness   and size of wet clay as it spins.  Maintaining its centrality on the wheel is essential to sculpting, something that Mari Sachs ’19—whose portfolio will feature pottery pieces decorated with miniature figurines—proved by presenting a pile of what could have been a vase if the slightly off-center clay had not collapsed in on itself.

Sachs took a moment to chuckle at herself before collecting the remnants and kneading them into a fresh ball of clay.

“[A.P. Studio Art 3-D] is really interesting and you get to learn about sculpture,” Cullen Jacobs ’17 said as he worked the air bubbles out of a mound of clay and forcefully centered it on his wheel.

Jacobs, Lash and classmate Sam Ellis ’17 all have their own pottery wheels at home, and Lash says he uses  his  almost every other day for the same reason he took the class: relaxation.  He said one of his draws to pottery is that he thinks about “absolutely nothing” when he throws.

“I totally zone out,” Jeselnik added.  “It is a good course to kind of leave all of the everyday stresses behind. You come in here and you have to be totally focused on what you do, so you can’t have any background noise going on.”

Not only do students devote undivided attention to their pottery once they set foot in the classroom, but many also use free periods as extra time to sculpt, demonstrating the enthusiasm they have for the unique class.

“This class is really more the last stage[…]. You’re coming here with prior knowledge and you’re making your own pieces of art,” Jeselnik said.  “It’s really designed for the serious art student.”