Presented by Dr. Jon Kellar and Dr. Katrina Donovan

Creation of pottery and ceramics is as ancient as human settlement, and minerals found in the Black Hills have been used to make ceramics for hundreds of years. Drs. Jon Kellar and Katrina Donovan of the South Dakota Mines Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Department recently received a National Science Foundation grant to study minerals’ chemical makeup and apply it to creative uses within their undergraduate engineering program. They will discuss the history of the local ceramics industry, the efforts of area ceramics artists, the science and creative process behind turning raw minerals into ceramics.