Our Facility

Facility Overview

UARK Ceramics boasts nearly 20,000 square feet of studio, classroom, installation, and lounge space on the ground floor of the newly constructed Studio Art and Design Center (SDCR). Generously sized classrooms and support spaces are equipped for all standard ceramics processes. There are dedicated spaces for clay and glaze mixing, glaze application, plaster prototyping and mold making, material storage, photo documentation, and ample space for installing work. The main classroom itself converts into a 3000 square foot gallery space that can be employed for end of semester exhibitions and reviews.

The ceramics area has twelve individual studios that house our graduate students, faculty, and resident artists. Six of these studios, from 210 to 275 square feet, are earmarked for our MFA students. These spaces are adjacent to the post-bac studio and resident artist studio, and are closely situated to the main classrooms. All spaces are amply sized with high ceilings, good light, and excellent ventilation throughout.

The Studio Art and Design Center is also home to the Painting, Drawing, Photography, Printmaking, and Graphic Design programs. The building includes installation spaces on each floor, and an Arsaga’s coffee shop and gathering area on the main floor. The School of Art’s administrative office and the 2D Advanced Technology Lab is also in SDCR. Next door, the Sculpture program resides (SCUL), where the 3D Advanced Technology Lab, Experimental Media Arts, and the Wood and Metal shops and also located.

In 2024 we will start construction on an additional, adjacent facility, to house the School of Art’s gallery and Foundations program. Also on our block, the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design is currently constructing the Anthony Timberlands Center, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Grafton Architecture.

Equipment List

In the last ten years, more than 500,000 dollars has been invested in equipment upgrades, to complement our new facility and to further extend the technologies and processes available to our students. Below is a list of some of the major equipment we have available to our students:

Interior Kiln Pad

  • Blaauww automated 12 & 54 & 100 cu.ft. gas kilns

  • Blaauww automated 18 cu.ft. electric kiln

  • Bailey Studio Pro 12 & 18 cu.ft. gas kilns

  • Bailey Thermal Logic 20 cu.ft. electric with two cars

  • 12 computer-controlled Skutt electric kilns

  • Counterbalance stacker

Exterior Kiln Pad

  • Geil 8, 12, and 24 cu.ft. gas kilns

  • Master Kiln Builders 24 cu.ft. soda kiln

Technology Lab

  • Potterbot Super 10 clay printer (2)

  • Enduring Images color decal printer

  • Shop Sabre CNC Router

  • Shop Sabre CNC Plasma Cutter

  • Epilog Fusion Laser Cutter (multiple)

  • Various 3D Printers (Prusa, Ultimaker)

General Studio/Classrooms

  • Brent and Bailey extruders

  • Bailey slab rollers (2)

  • 20+ electric wheels

  • 2 Lockerbie kick-wheels 

 

Grinding Room

  • Torit Downdraft Table

  • Tile Saw

  • Sandblast Cabinet

  • Wet Sanders (2) and Grinders

Clay Mixing Area

  • 3 Soldner mixers

  • Peter Pugger VPM-20 pugmill

  • Peter Pugger VPM-60 pugmill

  • RAM vertical blunger

Glaze Mixing and Application Rooms

  • Laguna seamless spray booth

  • Scales and Balances

  • Tilting dry material bins 

  • Excellent ventilation

  • HEPA Wet Vacs (2)

Plaster Area

  • Bailey mold drying cabinet

  • Refsan Plaster Lathe

  • Refsan Jigger

  • Band Saw and Drill Press

  • Vacuum De-gassing Station

  • Lehman Slip Mixers (3)

Ceramics Teaching Collection

The Ceramics area is pleased to offer students access to over 50 works for hands-on study by leading contemporary ceramic artists. Included in our collection are works by artists such as Lisa Orr, Sanam Emami, Doug Peltzman, Sam Chung, Mikey Walsh, and Julia Galloway. Here is a selection of our pieces: