The Clay Studio offices, galleries, open studio, and school will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2025, in observance of Memorial Day.
Stuart Gair
Stuart Gair grew up in Northeast Ohio where his interests in local materials,
historiography and the ceramic process first began. He often references past
cultures and civilizations in his work as a way to understand specific groups
through the objects they created. Gairs recent research has focused on
alternative ways to firing soda kilns, a process that was developed in the
1980s as an alternative to traditional salt firing techniques. This approach of
adding sodium bicarbonate to the kiln yields a greater range of color in the
clays surface and has a lower carbon footprint than salt.
Gair received an MFA in Ceramics from The University of Nebraska and a
BAS in History from Ohio University. He has also spent time teaching at
Harvard University and Colorado Mountain College and was a long-term
resident at the Archie Bray Foundation. He has a studio in Canaanville, Ohio
where he has been experimenting with local clays and exploring the ceramic
history of the region. He is the co-founder of Canaanville Arts Center, a gallery
and artist residency that is focused on bringing nationally and internationally
recognized artists to the area as well as highlighting artists and craftsman
from the Appalachian region working in traditional methods.
Gair is currently an Assistant Professor of Instruction at Ohio University.
50% of your purchase directly supports the artist, and 50% of
your purchase supports the operations of The Clay Studio, a nonprofit that serves 35,000 people,
including 2,000 underserved school children, each year.
