Story and Photos by Henry Slater
Over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house we go. At least, that is what comes to mind when making the trek across campus to find Whatcom’s Roe Studio.
Roe Studio is obscurely situated behind the Cascade building next to a forest-like area, which makes walking there a journey. There is even a quaint wooden bridge along the way.
“It’s really open and inviting which provides very ample space to work,” said Olivia Ohls, 21, a student new to ceramics.
The room is adorned with pottery, from projects that students have finished, are just starting, or are halfway through.
“About 100 students use the studio every quarter,” said ceramics instructor Rob Beishline. “If every student makes about 12 pieces, that means that there are about 1,000 pieces being made every quarter.”
The studio is only available to the students enrolled in one of the five ceramics classes, which includes two beginning ceramics classes, one beginning throwing class, and two non-credit community education classes.
The only exceptions to this rule are studio potters, who are students that have their own materials, pay for studio use, and have already taken the majority of the ceramics classes available at Whatcom.
“Being a studio potter isn’t really something for people who want to sell things,” said Beishline. “It’s more for people who want to grow in the art of ceramics.”
