SodaPosium
An educational forum
and celebration
of soda firing
SodaPosium
SodaPosium is a weekend long educational event bringing together a community of potters and artists enthused about soda firing. The event includes workshops with experienced soda fire practitioners, a soda firing for conference participants, networking, community-building, soda-fired pottery sales, and loads of fun.
WHEN
SodaPosium has been rescheduled to 2025 due to the extensive expansion of The Clay Lady’s Campus studios.
Updated details soon!
Plan to join us in spring of 2025 for this informative forum on Soda Firing!”
WHERE
The Clay Lady’s Campus in Nashville, Tennessee
HOW
JOIN US
Welcome to SodaPosium 2025. We’re thrilled to present our second informative and action packed weekend all about soda firing. The first event in 2022 was a great success and we’re back with another stellar presenter line-up as well as a conference soda-firing that everyone can participate in. Presenters will offer demonstrations and information that cover a wide range of techniques, surface treatments, and firing temperatures. Whether you’re just curious about soda firing, a beginner or an experienced practitioner, we are sure this event will be informative, beneficial and fun. We hope that SodaPosium will continue to build community and provide opportunities for information and networking that will support and enrich your practice for years to come.
We hope that you can join us Spring of 2025.
Gertrude Graham Smith & Paul Wisotzky
SodaPosium Co-Founders and Producers
SodaPosium is hosted by The Clay Lady’s Campus. We’re grateful for our partnership with our generous and gracious host The Clay Lady’s Campus in Nashville. Rest assured you will be very well taken care of at the welcoming and well equipped clay center that is also home to Mid-South Ceramics.
The Clay Lady’s Campus welcomes all, respecting the diversity of our creative planet. We love our neighbors – no exceptions.
ABOUT THE EVENT
WORKSHOPS
Participants will be treated to two days of demonstrations, presentations, and discussions by six ceramic artists who specialize in soda firing.
Also a Cup and Mug Exchange!
Join in a cup and mug exchange that includes works by participants and presenters. Leave the event with a new favorite cup or mug to add to your pottery collection.
CONFERENCE SODA FIRING
We’re excited to offer the opportunity for attendees to participate in a soda firing!
Each participant is encouraged to bring a bisque piece of cone 6 pottery to glaze and decorate on Friday afternoon, all materials provided. All work will be fired to cone 6 during the conference to be unloaded as the last event of the conference.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Get to know the presenting artists on Friday night with a conversational panel discussion. See photos of their studios and kilns as they lead a discussion devoted to kilns, best firing protocols and practices, and studio set-up.
Q & A will follow.
SODAPOSIUM PRESENTERS
William Baker
William Baker is a full-time studio potter,kiln builder, and educator living in Bakersville, North Carolina. He has been pursuing this passion since 2000 when he first stumbled into clay. He was a Resident Artist in Asheville, NC and the EnergyXchange in Burnsville, NC. For the last two decades William has focused on refining his clay work and his understanding of the wood and soda firing processes. Current passions include exploring the connection between mind and body, as well as between our studio practice and a mindfulness practice. When not handling clay or bricks, he is often found hiking on a trail or on a yoga mat.
Julia Galloway
Julia Galloway is a potter and professor of ceramics at the University of Montana, Missoula. Julia has exhibited widely, and her work is included in the collections of the Renwick Gallery – Washington DC, American Museum of Ceramic Art, and Alfred Ceramics Art Museum in New York. She was awarded a United States Artist Grant and named a Distinguished Scholar at the University of Montana.
Sam Lopez
Sam Lopez is a potter and educator living and working in San Diego, CA. The basis of his studio practice is to research and produce functional and decorative ceramics that can be utilized in both professional and domestic kitchens as well as interior spaces. Sam received his bachelor’s degree in applied design in 2014 and his MFA in ceramics in 2020 from San Diego State University.
Teresa Pietsch
Teresa Pietsch work connects both the functional and the decorative, seeking to make pots that people want to touch, hold, and use. Teresa grew up in Washington State and graduated from Seattle Pacific University. She began working in clay at West Point Grey Community Studio in Vancouver, BC and at Claymakers Community Studio in Durham, NC. In 2010 she started as a full time studio potter as a resident artist at the EnergyXchange in Burnsville, NC. In the fall of 2013 she set up her own studio near Penland, NC.
Gertrude Graham Smith
Gertrude Graham Smith, nicknamed Gay, is a studio potter and teaching artist who single fires porcelain ware in her soda kiln near Penland, North Carolina. She’s taught workshops at Penland, Haystack, Harvard, Castle Hill, and the Findhorn Foundation. Her work is shown internationally, is in collections including the Mint Museum, Taiwan’s Taipei County Yingge Museum, can be viewed in numerous publications including Functional Pottery, Mark Making by Robin Hopper, Working with Clay by Susan Peterson, and as a cover feature of Ceramics Monthly.
Paul Wisotzky
Paul Wisotzky is a studio potter and educator from Truro, Massachusetts. He makes functional pottery from porcelain and stoneware and fires his work in soda and reduction atmospheres at his studio Blueberry Lane Pottery. Paul teaches at the Harvard University Ceramics Program and Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. He is a founder and co-producer of SodaPosium, a national educational gathering and celebration of soda firing. As an Open Studio Resident at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Paul developed a process of digitally designing and fabricating sponge stamps using graphic design software and a laser cutter.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
1:00-4:00 -Check-in and
Glaze Buffet for Soda Firing, Tour The Campus, Shop The Gallery
4:00 – 5:00 William Baker FLOW Class (Optional)
5:00 – Welcome
5:30-6:30 – Panel discussion with the presenters
8:30-9:00 – Coffee and breakfast snacks, conversation in The Clay Cafe, Shopping The CLC Gallery, visit our Vendors
(All attendees will see all 6 presentations over the 2 day SodaPosium)
9:00-11:30 –William Baker
9:00-11:30 – Julia Galloway
11:30-1:00 – Lunch, Shop, Network
12:30 – 1:00 Alexie Smith Body Mechanics Class (Optional)
1:00-2:00 – Gertrude Graham Smith
1:00-2:00 – Paul Wisotzky
2:30-5:00 – Sam Lopez
2:30-5:00 – Teresa Pietsch
8:30-9:00 – Coffee and breakfast snacks, conversation in The Clay Cafe, Shopping The CLC Gallery, visit our Vendors
(All attendees will see all 6 presentations over the 2 day SodaPosium)
9:00-11:30 –William Baker
9:00-11:30 – Julia Galloway
11:30-1:00 – Lunch, Shop, Network
12:30-1:00 – Mug and Cup Exchange
1:00-2:00 – Gertrude Graham Smith
1:00-2:00 – Paul Wisotzky
2:30-5:00 – Sam Lopez
2:30-5:00 – Teresa Pietsch
5:00 – Unload Soda Kiln
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Early bird registration is $395 and available September 1 until December 31, 2024. After, registration is $445. Registration includes a welcome reception on Friday along with coffee, snacks and lunch on Saturday and Sunday. Registration includes participation in the conference soda firing.
Stay tuned for more information about scholarships. Email info@sodaposium.com for updates.
Whether or not you can receive school credit is up to the institution where you are enrolled. Please contact us if you need specific information from us to assist you in this regard.
Registration begins at 1:00 on Friday and the Glaze Buffet will be available from 1:00-4:00 for glazing. (You will need to register before you can participate in the glaze buffet.)
You can tour The Clay Lady’s Campus, shop The CLC Gallery, enjoy The Clay Cafe, and meet the Vendors.
Please see the schedule for presentation times.
Closest Airport:
BNA – Briley Nashville Airport is 10 minutes from The Clay Lady’s Campus. You will need to make your own arrangements from the airport to your accommodations.
We suggest using Uber and Lyft
No experience required! SodaPosium is a great way to learn about soda firing from A to Z. Plus we’re sure you will meet and make connections with experienced practitioners from around the country.
Just bring a CONE 6 bisque fired pot (no more than 6×6 inches) to be fired to cone 6. We’ll have a glaze buffet set up from 1:00-4:00 on Friday where you can glaze and decorate your piece. Participation in the conference soda firing is optional, encouraged and included in your registration.
We suggest staying in the The Hampton Inn or any other hotels near the airport on Donelson or Elm Hill Pike, which are close. There are also great AirBnB & VRBO rentals in The Donelson Hills or Bluefields neighborhoods.
The Clay Lady’s Campus does not have lodging.
You will need to arrange your own transportation to and from to The Campus.
Coffee, snacks and lunch are included on Saturday and Sunday. We’ll provide you with a list of our favorites place for dinner.
We will have vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options available on our lunch buffets.
We are sorry that we cannot offer individual student discounts. However, we are working on providing a number of scholarships, applications open to all, please stay tuned.
We do offer discounts to groups of 5 or more paid in a single payment. Please contact us for more information
info@sodaposium.com
Yes! There will be a great selection of pottery from our presenters at the conference show and sale. In addition, many of The Clay Lady’s Campus resident artists will have work available for purchase. And, The Clay Lady’s Campus is also home to Mid-South Ceramics, a top supplier of ceramics and pottery tools and supplies.
Click Below for a Ceramics Monthly article of recipes for soda fired surfaces by Gay Smith and Paul Wisotzky
SodaPosium is sponsored by these Companies. Visit the Vendor Area during the weekend to meet with representatives and learn about their products!
Photos from SodaPosium 2022
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