North America’s Largest Wood-burning Kiln Fires Up For Ten Days Of Pottery Transformation

COLLEGEVILLE (WJON News) -- The largest wood-burning kiln in North America will be fired on Friday.

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The Johanna Kiln at St. John's University in Collegeville will be lit at 4:00 p.m., marking the beginning of a 10-day firing.

Saint John's Pottery/Kiln

What happens at the firing

The public is invited to attend the lighting ceremony, which will include a performance by musician John McCuthcheon and honor three people who played important roles in the history of Saint John's Pottery.

After a short prayer, the kiln area is ritually purified in the Japanese tradition with rice, salt, and sake before being lit with a handmade torch.

Saint John's Pottery/Kiln

The kiln firing process

Fired every two years, the kiln can hold up to 12,000 works of pottery and sculpture and takes up to nine weeks to load. This year's firing includes works by 27 artists, including three current apprentices and artists from across the United States and Japan.

The firing lasts 10 days, with volunteers working around the clock in shifts to keep the kiln burning.

The kiln will be sealed with recycled clay and allowed to cool for two weeks before the ceramics are unloaded, cleaned, and prepared for use.

Three people honored for their roles

This year, five grandsons of the late Kevin Flicker, a former Saint John's Pottery apprentice and longtime ceramics professor at the University of Minnesota Morris, will light the kiln.

Others honored during the ceremony include James Dean, an architect and photographer who designed the Saint John's Pottery Studio.

And Catherine Mulligan, an artist who participated in every Johanna Kiln firing since the first in 1995. Her final work will be included in this year's firing.