An art professor has a science project in Art Park West.

The professor, Dwayne Naragon, has designed and built two kilns – one of which will be experiment A and the other experiment B.

“I’m kind of like a scientist,” Naragon said.

The 80-cubic-foot kilns, which can reach thousands of degrees in temperature, are built from hard and soft bricks and have structure like a house. The kilns bake and harden modeling clay.

After a shed was added to the south end of Art Park West in February, Naragon began designing the two kilns. One would have the features of a conventional kiln, while the other would be derived from Naragon’s own ideas. The two are connected in the middle by a long manifold that directs the smoke outside.

Logan Hamilton, a sophomore art education major and some other students helped Naragon with the labor to build the kilns.

“It’s not very often you get to help out with a gas kiln,” Hamilton said. “It helped that Dwayne knew the pattern – I just took instruction from him.”

The main difference between the kilns is that one has hollow brick. Naragon thinks the hollowness of his custom design will make the kiln more gas and energy efficient.

“I have 33 years of experience with clay,” he said. “I had a test run from a grant (I had received), but I want to run the process again to make sure my research is thorough.”

In effect, Naragon will be comparing the efficiency of the conventional kiln to his own while tracking the results.

Art department Chair Glenn Hild said once the kilns are finished, a test firing will follow and then the gas tanks will be installed within 48 hours. Naragon said he hopes for the kilns to be open by late this week or early next.

Students must currently send their ceramics to a kiln located on campus. The vehicle and costs are covered by Facilities and Planning, said Naragon who estimated thousands of ceramics are transported in a single semester.

Original plans called for the shed to be constructed in October, but the construction company that was to build the addition to Art Park West chose to work on other projects, Hild said.

“Even if they had gotten everything done on time, I don’t know if there would be a difference (in the delays),” he said.

The on-campus location, and not money, slowed down progress for the kiln construction because there was no immediate need, Hild said.

“There wasn’t a great rush,” he said. “We are accommodating students’ needs and since it’s not a serious issue we could take a little longer.”

Hamilton said the traveling was an inconvenience, but that it didn’t bother him.

“Me personally, I’m not bitter – I’m easy going,” he said. “I know lots of students want the kilns here.”

Naragon said the constant movement of ceramics from Art Park West to campus is getting annoying.

“It’s kind of at a point where it’s sort of getting old,” he said. “But I’ve accepted it.”