To the editor,
Rainy River Community College Art Department has recently received a grant from the grant committee from Rainy River Community College Foundation to build a new high temperature kiln for professional ceramic work.
The grant covers most of the costs of constructing a metal structure to house it, and most of the brick and iron work which will be needed.
Our department currently has an electric kiln which is nearly 18 years old. While still adequate, it’s lifespan is diminishing. In addition, it can only handle ceramic pieces fired at low temperatures, due to the form of electrical service the building currently has. This new kiln will be gas-fired and outdoors.
Students from the industrial technology program and the art department will be working together to build a protective building, build the firebrick kiln, and to weld the steel framework around it. The students will be learning metal and furnace construction, thermodynamics, gas line construction, gas line safety equipment, and kiln firing.
This represents a new era for Rainy River Community College Art Department. Most other small colleges have at least one gas kiln and some have several.
Essentially, a kiln is a box made of firebrick and high heat reflective material. This kiln will be capable of sustained temperatures above 2300 degrees Fahrenheit. A kiln of this type is necessary to produce competitive high quality stoneware ceramics.
We are asking for anyone who has any firebrick they wish to donate to contact us. We are in need of soft brick and hard brick. Soft brick is a chemically treated high insulation brick. Hard brick is extremely dense and heavy. Both bricks measuring 9 inches by 4.5 inches by 2.5 inches. We will be needing about 1,300.
If you have any clean, solid bricks you would like to donate, please contact me at 218-285-2260.
Mark Rooney
art instructor
Rainy River
Community College
International Falls, MN
