Class project donated to Vickery House

A partnership between a student in the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Department of Visual Arts and the Historic Vickery House provided a learning experience and functional art. Jennie Bosman, a senior in associate professor Alex Kraft's ceramics systems and surfaces class, designed, created and ultimately presented a set of four pavers to the Vickery House on March 28.

"We first had to choose a community partner, and while everyone chose a business or school, I chose the Hometown Harvest community garden because I knew that they wanted more involvement with other departments and I myself appreciate Appalachia and gardening, so it felt like the perfect fit," Bosman said.

Bosman, pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in ceramics and textiles, reached out to Morgan Southerland, Hometown Harvest coordinator, for input and approval of her original design, and the community partner contract was signed.

The design was inspired by plant markers and the Hometown Harvest logo.

"I was also made aware that the community garden grows a ton of tomatoes and it felt right to include some in the final paver," the Hartwell, Georgia, native said, adding that carrots and tomatoes are the perfect snack (with ranch preferably).

Once the design was created and approved, the next step was to learn how to make the paver.

Kraft said the goal was for Bosman to create a one-part plaster press mold and then produce multiple pavers. Bosman reclaimed the studio's waste clay and glaze slop, mixing these materials together in a pug mill, then pressing this new "claze" into the molds. Lastly, she glazed and fired the four pavers, Kraft said.

"I think it was a great project to extend the arts out into the community and be able to recycle our clay and glaze in a useful way," Bosman said. "I chose the garden as my recipient because I knew they were doing upgrades and changes to the Vickery House and wanted to collaborate on this new project. I felt this would be a fun decoration for the garden."