Over the past decade access to ceramic education in the UK has shifted significantly, with rising costs and reduced provision in higher education changing how and where people learn the discipline. In parallel, a new ecosystem has emerged: independent studios, shared workshops and membership-based models that provide both infrastructure and community. Drawing on the development of The Kiln Rooms in London, established by Stuart Carey in 2015, this lecture considers how these alternative spaces function as sites of learning and what they reveal about the changing nature of ceramic education today. Carey reflects on the varied trajectories of those who have taken courses at The Kiln Rooms, from career changers to emerging professionals, and asks what conditions enable long-term engagement with ceramics. The accessibility, training that is flexibly arranged around learners’ schedules and peer learning are key elements of the distributed, non-institutional form of ceramic education seen in the Kiln Rooms and many similar organisations up and down the country.
Stuart Carey is the founder and Technical Director of The Kiln Rooms, a network of ceramics studios in London that provide open access facilities, courses and membership for a broad community of makers. Alongside developing the studios, Carey has worked extensively in ceramics production, education and technical training with a particular focus on access to materials, equipment and shared learning environments. His work reflects an ongoing interest in how contemporary makers build sustainable relationships with craft outside traditional academic structures.
