Clay it Up & Sketch it Out: A high school day of clay and drawing centered around creating, competing and collaborating! These Concurrent events are here to facilitate the growth of young artists and build the future Visual Arts community.
This day is set up to provide high school students with opportunities to showcase their talents, learn from others and make connections with fellow Art enthusiasts. Yes, most of the day is centered around competing, but this day is much more about sharing skills, talents, swapping stories and just being with like minded individuals within a vibrant learning environment.
This day features two live events, Clay It Up & Sketch It Out, but also has an Art College Fair, an Art Silent Auction, and Live Professional Demonstrations!
Please direct questions to: Ryan Widel
Nixa HS Visual Art Dept. Head and Ceramics Instructor
Email: [email protected]
Cell: (417) 880-7043
Event Details:
Location: Nixa High School (Commons – Main Entrance) – Nixa, MO
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026 Time: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
*These Events are open to the public! Free admission for spectators!
Event Day Schedule:
9:00 am: Schools / Universities / Sponsors setting up tables begin arriving. Enter through the main doors on the Northwest side of the building. You will have designated table space for your school to put their supplies and belongings.
9:20 am: Informational Walkthrough for Participants, Teachers and Judges.
9:40 am: Welcome Announcements – University / Demo Spotlight
10:00 am – 12:30 pm: High School Art Events
12:30 – 1:10: Lunch & Sponsor Spotlight (Hospitality room for Teachers/University Reps, Judges) Pizza for participating students
1:20 – 3:30: High School Art Events
3:30 – 3:45 pm: Final Judging, End of Silent Auction, Team Cleanup
3:50 pm – 4:30: Awards Ceremony
Competitive Events (Clay It Up & Sketch It Out):
Judges will provide prompts for all events on the day of the competition.
Students may enter multiple challenges (even between CIU & SIO) throughout the day as long as they are not scheduled simultaneously.
Competitive events will be placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and possibly HM (up to the judges)
- All Individual Clay It Up events will have 12.5 lbs of Buff clay available and cost $20 per student, limit of 2 individuals per school
- Individual Wheel Throwing (10:00 – 11:10) – Individual students will be working on the potter’s wheel to create a single form.
- Individual Handbuilt Sculpture (10:00 – 11:10) – Students will use various handbuilding techniques to create a conceptual sculpture. For the purposes of this event, a “sculpture” will be considered a non-functional form.
- Individual Wheel Thrown Set (11:20 – 12:30) – Students will work independently to create a multi-piece set on the potter’s wheel. Sets will consist of functional forms that consider visual unity in their design.
- Individual Handbuilt Functional (11:20 – 12:30) – Students will use various handbuilding techniques to create functional forms. Submissions may consist of a single piece or a set of multiple pieces.
- Collaboration Challenges (1:20 – 2:20) – Get ready for a fun event that tests your ability to think on your feet, work together, and adapt to change! All participating students will be partnered up with members of other schools to Collaborate, Compete and Create! The purpose is to help strengthen the relationships within our clay community. No awards for this event. NO entry fee for the collaborative event. This event will be open to all students with a paid entry into Clay It Up.
- All Team events will have 25 lbs of clay available and cost $30 per team, limit of 2 teams per school (a team is 2 individuals)
- Team Wheel Throwing (2:30 – 3:30) – Students will collaborate in teams of two from their respective schools to create wheel thrown objects. Schools will decide however to split the duties among its team members.
- Team Handbuilding (2:30 – 3:30) – Students will collaborate in teams of two from their respective schools to create handbuilt pieces. Submissions may be sculptural and/or functional objects depending on the judges prompt. Schools will decide however to split the duties among its team members.
Competitors need to bring their own media (Graphite, Charcoal, Colored Pencils) as well as drawing boards and easels (if available).
We will supply the paper and will have limited drawing boards and easels available.
Media used and B/W vs. Color will be determined by the Judges.
- Quick Principles (10:00 – 11:10) – Judges select a Principle and an object? Word? Concept? to prompt students to create multiple, fast drawings that merge the principle and object. Students will draw on 9 x 12 inch paper and the 3 drawings will be roughly 20 minutes each
- Drawing from Life – Space and/or Objects (11:20 – 12:30) – Judges will have freedom to set up a still life or take students to a space (indoor or outdoor)
- Imagination (1:20 – 2:20) – Students will address subjects purely from imagination (no reference images).
- The Human Form (2:30 – 3:30) – Students will create a drawing based upon the human form.
Guest Judges for Competitive Events: TBA
Each year Clay It Up and now, Sketch It Out will each host two special guests to judge the live competition. The role of the guest judge is to provide the construction prompts at the start of each competitive event, and to award placements for the top submissions in the different categories. In the past we have been grateful to partner with area artists, teachers and professors to judge our live competition.
Art College Fair
We are again looking forward to having many different Universities and Colleges being represented at our events this year! The list is getting longer and this is a great opportunity for these institutions to share what they have to offer to our talented students.
Demonstrations
We are extremely fortunate to have many willing professionals to give live Mini-Demonstrations. These will be free for everyone in attendance! We would love for this event to benefit your department, students, and community as much as possible!!
Sponsorships / Donations
There are many moving parts to a day like this, so to make this event run smoothly for everyone involved we have a need for many Sponsorships and Donations.
Our Sponsors will receive:
Complimentary Event T-Shirts
Logos placed on event t-shirts, posters and slideshow in commons
Opportunity to have a table at the event for sales, information, conversation
Will get mentioned during our Sponsor Spotlight.
Donations are gladly accepted, but will not be mentioned the same as our sponsors.
Please feel free to ask any questions about this, but Sponsorship information will have to be finalized through [email protected].
If you are interested in supporting us through a monetary donation, here is our link: Clay It Up & Sketch It Out Event Fundraiser 25-26
T-shirt Sales:
Event t-shirts will be for sale during the event! (Teachers, participating students, University partners, Judges and Sponsors will all get a free complimentary shirt)
Cup & Pottery Silent Auction:
Ceramic artists have generously donated pieces to be auctioned off during the event. We will be using a silent auction format, and all are encouraged to participate (teachers, students, artists, spectators, etc.). Bidding will close and winners will be announced prior to the awards ceremony. Payment must be made prior to taking ownership of the work.
*If you would like to donate a piece for the silent auction, please let us know!
Thank you again for your interest in Clay It Up & Sketch It Out! We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, April 18th!
