Ceramics Club students are selling their pottery creations this week in Fine Arts Center 151. The annual sale features ceramics of all kinds and is open to the entire WKU community.

The club hosts the sale every semester in a tradition stretching back decades.

Greg Strange, a ceramics professor and faculty advisor to the club, remembers the sale being held when he was a student in 1985. 

“It used to be considered a cup sale, there was nothing but cups,” Strange said

This semester, the sale boasts a wide variety of student-made ceramics, including bowls, plates, mugs, cups, coasters, vases, candleholders, paper towel holders, inkwells, earrings and decorative and artistic pieces.

Greg Strange recommended the fall semester sale for holiday shopping needs.

“You can find good pieces at a much cheaper price than you would if you go elsewhere,” Casey Strange, an Arizona State University graduate and ceramics club member, said.

Club members who put their artwork up for sale set up the table displays Sunday night. During the sale, club members take three-hour shifts to man the checkout table.

“This year we had probably the most pieces out of any year,” Casey Strange said.

Each creation is individually priced with a sticker. 90% of the sales are returned to the artists, while 10% is invested back into the club.

“It’s a really good split because normally if you’re doing a show gallery, they would take probably 40%,” said Jessie Flatt, a WKU graduate with a ceramics degree. “This has taught students how to price their work. Normally artists undervalue, and so this is teaching us to advocate for ourselves and think about the cost of production.”

Katie Woody, a senior majoring in graphic design with a minor in ceramics, said last semester’s 10% generated $2,000, which the club used to buy shelving.

The club purchases a range of studio equipment from the sale revenue generated each semester. Greg Strange said they have bought an electric kiln, a raku kiln, kiln furniture and extruders in the past.

“It’s just keeping the money in the community and supporting their own,” Casey Strange said.

The Ceramics Club meets every other Tuesday in FAC 151. The sale continues through Wednesday and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.