Avonworth 5th-grade students returned to Patterns of Meaning in early February for a hands-on workshop that built on prior classroom sessions around the relationship between art and industry.
During this visit, students moved from concept to process, engaging directly with slip casting, mold making, and the principles of positive and negative space. The workshop emphasized how ideas become objects and how design decisions translate into physical form.
Slip Casting with Andrew Jowdy Collins
Artist Andrew Jowdy Collins led students through a hands-on workshop to create plaster molds and slip-cast porcelain cups.
Students first learned the basics of model-making and plaster mold creation, a process that allows craftsmen to create multiple products from a single form. After creating molds, they poured slip, a liquid clay mixture, into the mold, allowing the slip to set. Carefully draining the slip, students saw that what remains is a formed object created by the space inside the mold.
Seeing Space Differently with Mia Tarducci
Artist Mia Tarducci guided students through an exploration of positive and negative space.
Through sketching exercises and visual analysis, students examined not only the object itself but also the space around and between forms. They learned that absence shapes presence, and that what is not there is often as important as what is.
Understanding positive and negative space is foundational in both fine art and industrial design. It trains students to think dimensionally and to recognize how structure is defined.
Forging Pathways Forward
Through the Patterns of Meaning Initiative, supported by the METAL program, workshops like this ignite young minds, connect art to industry, and demonstrate how design, precision, and innovation intersect. With each layered experience, students gain technical understanding and creative confidence, moving closer to recognizing real pathways into casting, forging, and the skilled manufacturing careers that shape modern American industry.
Bringing Patterns of Meaning to Your School
The Patterns of Meaning Initiative offers students a rare opportunity to engage directly with artists, materials, and industrial processes. Schools interested in hosting a workshop or developing a multi-visit experience that connects art, design, and manufacturing are invited to schedule a program with the Patterns of Meaning Initiative.
These hands-on experiences support curriculum goals while opening students’ eyes to creative, technical, and career pathways they may not yet realize are possible. Contact us here to discuss bringing Patterns to your school.
Photo credit: Patrick Fisher, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council