SEMO’s Art and Design department held an open house Jan. 28 to showcase their new ceramics building located on the corner of Morgan Oak and Frederick St. near the River Campus. Students enrolled in the spring semester were the first to get to use the new facilities.

During the open house, SEMO art students demonstrated how to mold clay into decorative bowls and pots. They also displayed other crafts students have made including paintings, embellished stones and clothing.

Art and ceramics professor Benjie Heu said the process of moving into the new building began about a year ago.

“They wanted us to move closer to the River Campus than where we used to be,” Heu said. “The [previous] ceramics building was originally located off Broadway behind Jackson Bridal.”

The new building provides a larger space for students’ design and art projects along with better parking for students and staff members.

The inside halls were decorated with various pencil drawings and painted pieces from local artists and SEMO art students. The large, open rooms provide enough space for the ceramics classrooms, with a separate kiln room and blaze room.

Fine arts sophomore Kate Cooper signed up to take her first ceramics class in the new building.

“The space in here is incredible,” Cooper said. “I am so impressed by the design and the light in here.”

The layout of the new building includes multiple large windows to allow more natural light into the classrooms.

Art and design associate professor Hannah Sanders said students will reap the benefits of the new building by getting to interact with other art students.

“In our other building, introductory students never got to meet or see the upper level students,” Sanders said. “Because of the scheduling and the space, we were scattered across campus.”

The Art and Design Department purchased the building which houses the paint department next to the new ceramics building. Plans to connect the two buildings are already underway.

For more information about the Art and Design Department and the new ceramics building, visit their website.