[set_id=72157638335849986]

Snug in the middle of campus amidst the signs and free candy sit hundreds of ceramic goods available for the SF State community to purchase.

The Ceramic Guild Annual Holiday Sale began this Monday and continues till the end of the week in the Fine Arts Building room 192.

The glass blowing class, which is set to be cancelled, also has a sale happening at the same time down the hall in room 171.

“I think this sale gets you interested in glass, and I really like that we have glass and ceramics at the same time because they are very different but they are very similar in that they can be useful. They can be decorative,” said Megan Dykema, the glass blowing TA. “It really helps people to get interested in glass and to see what it looks like. We hold it in our shop and a lot of people actually do like to watch and we show how it’s done.”

Money from the ceramic sale goes to support the SF State Ceramic Guild, which provides educational experiences, brings in visiting artists and funds annual conferences.

“It helps meet some of the gaps, like funding,” said Leslie Bock, ceramic grad student and ceramics guild president. “The ceramic guild helps to continue to provide that quality ceramic experience. Whatever is made goes directly back to the students.”

Guild members create the ceramic art works during the fall semester. Members spend eight hours a day each weekend making bowls, refining, trimming, adding glaze and surface coloration.

Guild members also volunteer their time working at the sales desk and wrap purchased items in recycled newspaper.

“I think it gives people joy to see the results of an education, of an artistic education,” said G.V. Kelley, a studio assistant. “Food is such a personal communal thing, it really is, and most of the things that we sell here are dinnerware. To be able to share that in such a communal loving act such as eating and cooking allows the sharing of that with other people who give it as gifts.”

Tiffany Runge, a 24-year-old psychology major, bought two vases, one purple and the other teal.

“I came down here because my mom is an artist too, it’s always good to shop local,” said Runge. “I think it’s kind of cool that the students get to show their creativity, and then the students can be a part of it. You can give the ceramic to your family and say a student from SF State made this.”