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will commence. Students will be assigned one of the many tasks necessary for the success of this event. Each day the kiln fires the participants will continue; stacking more wood, splitting the pieces, when needed and raking out the coals to keep the fire even and hot. Refreshments will be served to all. When the flames jump from the 20 foot chimney and the temperature nears peak and the next phase will begin. Fuming the ash from the fire onto the surface of the clay body is done with an added fluxing material, we will use borax and soda ash introduced by throwing into the fire boxes, handfuls of baking soda and borax. This gives the pottery a naturally fired surface glaze. This is done for a few hours so that the glaze settles over all the pottery in the chamber. Two days later the kiln will have consumed the better part of three tons of wood and the cooling process will begin. The slow cool keeps the kiln hot enough over the next two days to anneal the pottery. When the cooling is complete the kiln will be unloaded and a celebration will begin. This year we will have an Opening and Sale that will follow on Thursday, May 31st. It takes that long too cool! All of the crockery in the kiln will be sold to raise money for a scholarship to be given to a graduating senior from one of the island schools. Items will include early examples of coil pottery, bowls, planters, candle holders, and functional ware. as well as small and various examples of student work.
All clay has a final melting point. The island clay mixture has a vitrification temperature (the temperature just before the clay melts into a glassy iron cinder) around 2300 degrees F. If the kiln gets hot enough it is called "reaching temperature" and this firing will reach a glaze melt of anywhere from 1850* - 2000*F. “For these bowls and pots, all we want is for the glaze to fuse to the surface of the pottery, not for the clay to melt”, says Jeffery McIssacs one of the returning firemen from last years effort. “We work for days making the pots, then days firing the kiln but it is worth it, it is just, you learn so much!” he adds, “You have to be there all three days!”
The works will have the added fluxing help of the flying ash and charcoal from the fire burning below. The ash glaze combined with the borax glazes gives an ancient patina to the surface of the clay pots.
These works have become quite desirable as this is the 12th firing of this old kiln and there is a limited number of years a kiln will withstand the weather here” says the instructor Scott Campbell, “Ice, heat, repeated expansion and contraction from the firings and from the climate will do some damage to the structure, but each spring, repairs to the doors and the brick arches prepare the old kiln for one more firing”. Adds Francine Kelly, "the best part of the whole process is to see the kids working together for the greater good. Here at Featherstone we like to celebrate the wonderful things kids do.”

Wood Kiln Firing at Featherstone Art Center With the coming of the warm weather and the early rains visitors to Featherstone Art Center may see the sky filled with smoke from the annual Wood Kiln firing, sponsored this year by the Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Commission. A group of island art students are going to host the kiln firing on the Barnes Road site in Oak Bluffs. This will be a month long project that will include all island students who put in their time cutting and stacking wood, collecting clay, making pots, and especially putting in time during the many hours needed to fire this huge kiln. Students from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, the Public Charter School, Amos Institute and Featherstone Art Center are encouraged to sign up as a volunteer. During the week of Memorial Day, beginning the 23rd or the 24th loading of

will commence. Students will be assigned one of the many tasks necessary for the success of this event. Each day the kiln fires the participants will continue; stacking more wood, splitting the pieces, when needed and raking out the coals to keep the fire even and hot. Refreshments will be served to all. When the flames jump from the 20 foot chimney and the temperature nears peak and the next phase will begin. Fuming the ash from the fire onto the surface of the clay body is done with an added fluxing material, we will use borax and soda ash introduced by throwing into the fire boxes, handfuls of baking soda and borax. This gives the pottery a naturally fired surface glaze. This is done for a few hours so that the glaze settles over all the pottery in the chamber. Two days later the kiln will have consumed the better part of three tons of wood and the cooling process will begin. The slow cool keeps the kiln hot enough over the next two days to anneal the pottery. When the cooling is complete the kiln will be unloaded and a celebration will begin. This year we will have an Opening and Sale that will follow on Thursday, May 31st. It takes that long too cool! All of the crockery in the kiln will be sold to raise money for a scholarship to be given to a graduating senior from one of the island schools. Items will include early examples of coil pottery, bowls, planters, candle holders, and functional ware. as well as small and various examples of student work. All clay has a final melting point. The island clay mixture has a vitrification temperature (the temperature just before the clay melts into a glassy iron cinder) around 2300 degrees F. If the kiln gets hot enough it is called "reaching temperature" and this firing will reach a glaze melt of anywhere from 1850* - 2000*F. “For these bowls and pots, all we want is for the glaze to fuse to the surface of the pottery, not for the clay to melt”, says Jeffery McIssacs one of the returning firemen from last years effort. “We work for days making the pots, then days firing the kiln but it is worth it, it is just, you learn so much!” he adds, “You have to be there all three days!” The works will have the added fluxing help of the flying ash and charcoal from the fire burning below. The ash glaze combined with the borax glazes gives an ancient patina to the surface of the clay pots. These works have become quite desirable as this is the 12th firing of this old kiln and there is a limited number of years a kiln will withstand the weather here” says the instructor Scott Campbell, “Ice, heat, repeated expansion and contraction from the firings and from the climate will do some damage to the structure, but each spring, repairs to the doors and the brick arches prepare the old kiln for one more firing”. Adds Francine Kelly, "the best part of the whole process is to see the kids working together for the greater good. Here at Featherstone we like to celebrate the wonderful things kids do.”