Educational Outreach Programs to the Community

St. Gregory's Catholic High School

On March 17th 2004, members of the AIA's Tucson Society and graduate students of the Classics Department visited St. Gregory's High School to promote appreciation of ancient Greek ceramics and specifically discuss the involvement of high school students in the AIA-sponsored kiln project. The students from the Classics Seminar CLAS 596A prepared a presentation on the Greek Kiln Project and on ancient Greek ceramics, their iconography and technique, which was delivered by Jared Benton, Tucson's Society's Treasurer and a graduate student in Classics.

St Gregory's students, to our pleasant surprise, had recently created a mosaic depicting two Greek heroes from the Trojan War, Ajax and Achilles playing dice, a favorite theme of ancient Greek vase-painters! The faculty and students welcomed us warmly; the volunteering of some students to participate in the project reassured us that we laid the seeds for close collaboration among the AIA Tucson Society, the Classics Department at the University of Arizona, and the local high school community.

St. Augustine Catholic High School 

As part of the community outreach portion of the University of Arizona Kiln Project, the expertise of professional potter and scholar Toby Schreiber was enlisted for an educational visit to Tucson's St Augustine Catholic High School on April 7, 2004. The faculty of the school, led by art teacher Jo Valandry graciously hosted a lecture and pottery workshop given by Ms. Schreiber, kiln project director Dr. Eleni Hasaki, and University of Arizona graduate students Kate Alexander, Joshua Mix and Matt Nerdin. About sixty students of the school's inaugural class attended an informative

presentation dealing with the production of Athenian vases followed by various artistic activities in imitation of ancient Greek potters. Some of the workshop stations included the painting of small clay plaques in the Athenian red and black-figure techniques, creating ceramic figures from molds, and making a painter's brush from horse hair. The overwhelming success of the outing was apparent through the enthusiastic response of the students, who were afforded this rare educational opportunity and allowed to keep the works of art that they produced, after they were fired by Prof. A. Chabot at the Ceramics Program at the UA whom we generously thank.