The Gem received a 2025 Science on Screen Grant and we are partnering with BAAM to bring you five S.T.E.A.M. events centered around the senses: Taste, Smell, Sound, Sight, and Touch.
In our third event in the series, we focus on the sense of touch, exploring how our relation with clay utilizes it. There is a strong connection between clay and touch – remember being a child and how mud called out to be played with or a puddle to be jumped in? Touch is the primary sense employed when a potter works. Making pots, with its focus on tactile exploration and the shaping of clay, offers a unique sensory experience that can be both therapeutic and meditative, promoting a sense of grounding and connection.
We will begin our exploration of the clay/touch connection with a social hour where kids and adults can get their hands dirty in clay and try their hand at sculpting with this seductive material. Then, Martha Grover, local potter, clay teacher and internationally known artist, will share her thoughts on touch and clay, while demonstrating throwing on the potters wheel. We will follow that with a screening of Chicken Run, a fun claymation movie.
