The Science and Fortune Behind Art

Day two of 4-H Biotech Day Camp had us turning into Stars, or at least travelling to Star, NC.  We boarded the van this morning for a shorter trip then Monday as we traveled about half way in the same direction this time stopping in Montgomery County in a little town of Star.  There we visited an old school, turned sock plant, turned really cool artist spot known as StarWorks.
  We started our visit with a glass blowing demonstration.  We met some really cool folks who work with some really hot stuff.  Joe has been blowing glass for longer than most of our campers have been alive and introduced them to all the things it takes to make a pumpkin (no not the kind you grow in soil or even hydroponically) out of glass.  It took three glass artists to heat clear glass, add orange color, shape it, add green flecks, ridges, and a stem.  After all the heating, shaping, and blowing it was time to take it off the rod and gently place it in a 900 degree oven to cool off.  It will take more than a day to slowly cool the piece so that it doesn't crack or shatter.  Pretty cool, or hot should we say?
  After that we got to go for a tour of the facility.  We learned that the plant started as "The Country Life Academy" in the early 1900's.  It wasn't really school like we know them now.  It was a school that is kind of like 4-H.  It taught youth life skills and things they would need to know to be successful adults.  They learned about agriculture, homemaking, and other school things like reading and writing.  Later the building was added on to multiple times to be home to a thriving sock plant.  Like many North Carolina textile manufacturers the plant closed as textile jobs moved overseas.  In 2005 StarWorks was gifted the building and a creative process started to repair the building, raise funds to help renovate it, and create a artists space that would pull artists from around the world.  We got to see all the different types of clay they make from natural elements in the area and the process they go through to mix it and test it.  This clay is ordered around the world and helps to sustain this project.
  After seeing the clay being made it was time to get our hands in it.  We got a quick lesson in working with clay and then it was time to get our hands dirty and make a little something of our own.  The only thing stopping us was our imagination as we came up with creation after creation.  We boxed up our works of art and brought them back with us.  They can air dry or be fired in a kiln.  We learned about those too.  Some are electric, others operate with gas and then we learned about wood kilns.  We saw some really cool structures that were fired and got so hot they glowed.  That's really a glowing example of things that get fired.
  After leaving a really awesome day of learning about science in art we made our way towards Asheboro to eat at K&W.  We filled our stomachs with food that some was familiar, some was new, but it was all pretty good.   After getting our stomachs full it was time to hit the road again.
  This time we stopped at the North Carolina Pottery Center.  There we learned about the history of pottery starting with Native American potters through present day.  Our youth also got to see ornate pottery and functional pottery.  They saw everything from elegant to comical and all picked their favorites.  They also got to see how artists can be expressive in a variety of ways.  One of the displays they were able to see were of dinnerware settings.  They learned there is a lot that goes into pottery and hand made items and its not just as simple as playing with clay.
  When we got done touring we headed back to Robeson County.  Tomorrow we are going to meet the animals...with a little animal science.