Accessible ceramics for children in Long Beach schools

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

In 2022, CA. voters passed Prop. 28 which has helped schools create and fund materials for art programs at the discretion of school site administrators. At the beginning of the '23 school year, my children’s K-8 school in LBUSD rolled out a school-wide program led by a newly hired art specialist. Elementary students received a 40-minute art lesson twice a month, and middle schoolers were offered an art elective that met for 50 minutes every other day. Unfortunately, after only one year the principal decided to cut the elementary art program, using 100% of the Prop. 28 money on the middle school art elective. Public schools need the help of community organizations like Clay Day LBC that are dedicated to delivering the arts to students during their school day regardless of the availability of district, state, or federal funding. Currently, Clay Day LBC is the only organization in Long Beach whose singular vision is to make ceramics accessible to all underserved students in K-8 schools.

LA2050 Grant Challenge would fund Clay Day LBC 's core program, our in-school mobile pottery studio, which takes place in TK-8th-grade classrooms in public schools, nonprofits, and, community organizations all year. Started 2019, the mobile pottery studio has: -Helped TK-8 grade students create over 4,000 individual ceramic artworks
-Delivered 153 ceramic lessons in TK-8 classrooms during school hours
-Worked with 46 teachers in Long Beach
-Developed 28 ceramic art projects adaptable to TK-8 grade curriculum
-Retained 100% of teacher clients with 100% positive teacher feedback
The name of our organization came from the excited and surprised response of students when they return from recess to find their classroom set up as a pottery studio, “Today’s the clay day!” I consider that transformed classroom space to be sacred in the original etymological sense of the word, which is “to be set apart.” That 60-minute class period is truly unlike the rest of the school day for students. Complete silence during the lesson’s work period is a regular occurrence when children are introduced to clay for the first time. According to teachers, that “creative flow” is one of the most magical results of a clay day. The mobile pottery studio also runs lessons that encourage students to make their own choices because Clay Day LBC wants to empower children. “You’re the artist. You get to make that decision.” The goal is to make our lessons a bright spot in their day that they never forget.

The mobile pottery studio’s objective is to ensure that children experience the enormous benefits of ceramics. It is a truly transformative medium. Working with clay is a sensory experience that engages the whole body and improves motor cognitive skills. It also positively impacts children's social and emotional health, encouraging emotional regulation and sustained focus by making space in the school day for students to experience meditative creative flow. Exposure to the art of clay in a safe and supportive environment also cultivates problem-solving and risk-taking, which leads to increased self-efficacy, resilience, and confidence. Because of our work, by 2050 Los Angeles County will be populated by adults who see creative expression as an integral part of their identity because they consistently experienced the transformative power of clay at an early age. Clay Day LBC intends to raise curious, imaginative, empathetic, and resilient Angelenos.

Clay Day LBC largely measures the success of its mobile pottery studio program by the number of students exposed to the art of ceramics who would have little access to it otherwise–including but not limited to students in under-resourced communities and Title 1 schools, students of diverse physical abilities and children across the spectrum of neurodivergence. In March-June 2024 Clay Day LBC introduced 1,335 new students in 8 schools in LBUSD. Our goal next year is to get clay into the hands of 4,000 Long Beach students in TK-8th grade in 10-15 schools. We gather quantitative data and qualitative feedback from teachers about the impact our lessons have on students, which helps us understand our long-term impact. We highly value students’ oral and written feedback in how we interpret the mobile pottery studio's success in the classroom. The tremendous growth we are experiencing is propelling us forward in exciting ways, but we want that growth to be sustainable to count it as a success.