Ceramics Materials

PS:1 is piloting a program of providing clay and glaze materials to members for use. Because of the limitations of our kilns, all clays PS:1 provides will be selected for good performance at cone 6 firing, and all glazes will be selected to fire well at cone 6 or lower. Our goal is to find excellent earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain options which can be sourced locally. Our selection criteria prioritizes firing schedules, ease of use for potters of all skills, and to a lesser extent, appearance as unglazed bisqueware.

At present, we are trialing the following clays from Chicago Ceramics Supply:

103 Red as our terracotta option

101 Hugo Buff as our stoneware option

551 VP Porcelain as our porcelain option

There are a number of glazes available for public use at PS:1. There's been a great deal of interest in experimenting with making glazes in house from raw materials, and that may be a project for later in 2025. For now, we're focused on getting the clay right.

Additionally, ceramics has a large number of miscellaneous tools which will gradually be added to the existing list.