Two weeks ago we had a really special event at Pratt Fine Art Institute, and Hanna (one of the awesome MG employees) is going to tell you all about it. First off, let me paint the picture… Saturday morning, 20 students, ages 5-10, unglazed Shirley vases, and lots of imagination!

“Ever since becoming a part of the Material Good team, I’ve felt inspired to share the message and process behind Little Shirley vases. As an art instructor for kids, I wanted bring these special vases into the classroom. Since the meaning and intent behind Material Good is so special, being that Little Shirley vases are created in dedication to Lauren’s grandmother Shirley, it seemed appropriate to include a relevant prompt to the students.

The primary objectives of this lesson were to give Seattle youth an opportunity to discover the process behind the production of these locally made ceramic vases, and to each have a chance to glaze their own Little Shirley vase in dedication to someone special to them.

On a Saturday morning, Lauren joined me at Pratt Fine Arts Center where she shared the Little Shirley story with the students, giving students insight on how important Grandma Shirley was in her life and her business. We showed the students the video that Courtney made, and they loved it! They asked great
 questions about the production process and proved their knowledge of the material. I was impressed with their questions and with Lauren’s ability to answer anything they threw at her! The students were asked 
to fill out a prompt “worksheet” with guiding questions about a special person in their life. Lauren’s personal account of honoring her grandmother was inspiring to the students. They spent time writing 
about their special person and brainstorming a surface design to glaze on their Little Shirley vases, and they got right to glazing their own!

Lauren took the finished vases to the Material Good studio and fired them so that I could return them to the students the following week. They were all thrilled with the results! Some didn’t recognize their 
own handy-work after it had been fired, and others didn’t believe that they could really take them home! This was many of my students’ favorite project of our class, and I’m hoping to deliver another 
Little Shirley lesson during my next session of classes!

This was such a great opportunity for me to combine two facets of my life into one passion; sharing inspiration with anyone that I can. A huge thanks to Lauren for being willing and eager to offer Little
 Shirleys in a way they have never been shared before.”

-Hanna Traynham