AKA: The Bee Project
Do you have experience making ceramics and would you like to attract native bees to your garden? Perhaps you are a potter or a ceramic school like us with excess clay waste? Are you able to make your habitats in your own studio if we provide you with the information? Would you like to join our Citizen Science data collection in summer 2026-27? You are invited to join our regenerative habitat for native bees project! Please email info@slowclay.com title “Bee Project” and we will reply and welcome you!
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Some background: We kicked off this project in May 2026 with a workshop guided by award winning ceramic artist, *Julie Bartholomew, to design and make beautiful ceramic bee habitat nests. We filled them with our clay waste generated in our studio from our wheel throwing classes. We generate more waste than we can recycle so this project presents an important opportunity to try to close the circle on our waste for the longer term. Over the summer of 2026-27 we will monitor the activity in the nests and be guided by our wonderful collaborator, the bee scientist, Dr Kit Prendergast, and will feed our observations into her Australia-wide citizen science project over the next year.
Originallly presented as a workshop as part of Melbourne Design Week, Circular Ceramics for Native Bee Habitat is much more than design. It is science, recycling and community! We are grateful that our local council, Yarra City, has supported the making of a short film to accompany our launch and we have engaged videographer Sabrina Talarico to produce it.
Why are we doing this? Many Native Australian bees, particularly the Amegilla (Blue Banded Bee) like to build their nests in raw clay and are vulnerable in urban areas for many reasons, not least the loss of suitable native bush habitat. The urban garden is not their most favoured habitat however they are excellent pollinators and can provide valuable biodiversity. Dr Kit Prendergast’s help to join her citizen science project is a way to test if Slow Clay Centre can create suitable habitat from our waste clay. It’s potentially a win-win: to bring together ceramic clay waste whilst creating native bee habitat – which will also provide a model for other Australian ceramic studios in the future. The launch of our video and model is also aimed to engage and empower local communities through primary schools to join the project.
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More information and to join our communications please email us at info@SlowClay.com
Slow Clay Centre is grateful for financial contributions from City of Yarra and Melbourne Design Week.
*Julie Bartholomew completed a PhD in 2006, Masters of Visual Arts in 1999 and previously, a Bachelor in Visual Arts from the University of Sydney. Julie has exhibited both nationally and internationally in Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea and New Zealand. Julie was winner of the International Gold Coast Ceramics Award in 2006 and of has been the recipient of five major Australia Council for the Arts Grants, the Tokyo Studio Residency, the Australia-China Council Red Gate Residency in Beijing and the Asialink Taiwan Residency. Her work is in many collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Museum of Australia, the Shepparton Art Museum, Victoria, the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum, China and the WOCEK International Ceramics Collection, Korea and The Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan.
The ceramics practice of Dr Julie Bartholomew has been inspired by cultural issues and social debates. Over her career, Julie has explored communication technology, global branding and female identity. Since 2010 her work has responded to environmental issues including the precarious existence of threatened Australian birds and flowers, the significance of ice core extraction from Antarctica and recently the declining population of bees.
Reviews of past workshops: “The Studio Practice Program at Slow Clay Centre is one of the best pottery related experiences I’ve had so far, it was a week packed with information with great teachers and guidance.”
“A great opportunity to pause and reflect on what motivates and inspires my practice”
“I loved my subjects. They tapped into a lovely creative headspace. As a creative professional, I did not think it was going over old ground as there is no limit to how much help we need generating creative ideas and getting unstuck.”
“I was most stimulated by the unlocking of new creative territories via my special object…”
“I was left itching to explore some of these ideas!”
Not interested this time? See examples of past subjects below and get on our mailing list to be informed before the next one!
- Summer School ’26: Vitality of Clay, Ceramics for Regenerative Practice with Pattie Beerens, Pie Bolton and Claire Ellis
- Spring School ’25: Unconventional Clay with Aaron Scythe, Trudy Golley, and Paul Leathers
- Spring School ’24: Thinking Tools for the Journey with Shannon Garson, Ben Richardson, and Jane Sawyer
- Winter School ’23: The Middle Glazes with Matt Katz
- Spring School ’22: Ceramics and Culture with Gary Mcphedran
- Touch-Respond: advanced wheel throwing with Jane Sawyer
- Winter School ’22: Surfacing with Janet DeBoos and Mould Making for Slip Casting with Gregory Bonasera
- Developing Personal Expression with Prue Venables/Pilar Rojas
- Setting Up Your Ceramics Studio with Jane Sawyer/ Alana Casey
- Clay, Kilns & Firing with Judith Roberts/Robert Barron/Pie Bolton/Janet DeBoos
- Ceramics in Context with Gary Mcphedran
- Glaze Development with Greg Daly/Pilar Rojas
- Concept and Meaning with Jane Sawyer
- Surface Design with Prue Venables
- Contemporary International Ceramics with Jane Sawyer
- Drawing for Design and Expression with Sarah Tomasetti
- Unleashing the Inner Critic with Jane Sawyer
- Design Basics with Simon Lloyd
- Design for Slip Casting with Somchai Charoen