REGISTRATION OPENS:
JANUARY 8 AT NOON
One of seven courses available for the May 7 – 10, 2026
MCA Weekend Workshop @ Haystack
Whatever It Takes: Going Inside and Outside to Make Your Mark
Instructor: Simon ‘Siem’ van der Ven
Haystack Studio: Ceramics
Enrollment Limit: 18
Materials Fees: $0 – $55, See section below
Level: All Levels Welcome
Class Description:
This will be a process workshop. Students will participate in a series of exercises and projects designed to expand and excite their form and mark-making vocabularies. It is said that you can’t center with a hammer, but can you form a tea bowl by paddling it with a rock? Cooperatively guided by the participants, exercises in hand building, throwing, and modifying, slab work, and extrusion may be explored. Together, we will work to address technical, physical, and philosophical ways to approach and develop what we do.
Be prepared for a high-energy mix of individual and collaborative work.
Though leaving this workshop with a few nearly finished pieces is, by no means, a sign of failure, the successful participant may very well leave with a great mass of clay ready for recycling, a new friend or three, and some energy and excitement to dig back in and go further on their own.
Materials + Fees:
Participants in this workshop will have two options to select from for the studio materials fee. MCA staff will contact registered participants after the registration to confirm their selection. The fee will be added to your invoice.
Materials Fee Option #1: N/A
When choosing this option, students will be responsible for the purchase and transportation of their own clay of choice. You will need to bring at least 50 lbs.
Students are asked to bring the following items:
- Your favorite clay tools
- A hand towel
- An apron or studio clothes
Materials Fee Option #2: $55
Students will be supplied with 50 lbs of Laguna 65. MCA will take care of the transport to the campus, but participants should plan on removing any extra clay and or scraps by the end of the workshop. The fee will be added to your invoice after registration
Students are asked to bring the following items:
- Your favorite clay tools
- A hand towel
- An apron or studio clothes
About the Instructor-
Simon ‘Siem’ van der Ven has followed these threads throughout his life: Making things, cooking, looking, sailing, teaching, and being a father. He has been a resident artist at Anderson Ranch, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. He has held teaching positions at Camden Hills Regional High School, University of Maine at Augusta, and Unity College. Siem’s work is held in several public collections, including the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts and the Canton Museum of Fine Arts. He says, “I have never let go of the stage in which I learn from my fingertips inward.”