An interdisciplinary group of CCA students gathered this summer to connect with a rural community and get their hands dirty. Pie Ranch, a local nonprofit organization and farm that teaches about sustainable farming practices, served as their classroom. It is located near Pescadero, a coastal town about 70 miles south of San Francisco.

Led by Ceramics Program chair Nathan Lynch, the project-based coursework of Ceramics 370 is individually directed; students develop projects related to their academic backgrounds and interests. Previous students, for example, have produced a map of the ranch, made a camera obscura in a barn on the ranch grounds, and created pins in homage of their favorite goat to sell at the ranch’s roadside farm stand.

Pie Ranch is a working ranch that is affiliated with Mission Pie, a pie shop in San Francisco’s Mission District. Founded in 2002, Pie Ranch strives to educate people about the benefits of sustainability in farming and other systems that produce food. The organization is also connected to local schools; its largest partner is San Francisco’s Mission High School, whose students work in the shop and at the ranch and receive hands-on experience in business and agriculture, including gaining real-life leadership skills.

This summer 11 CCA students and one graduate assistant accompanied Lynch to Pie Ranch. The students represented a diverse range of majors: Writing and Literature, Illustration, Fashion Design, Sculpture, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Photography, Jewelry / Metal Arts, and Architecture. Although the course officially falls within the Ceramics curriculum, students are encouraged to work in any medium. The coursework allows them to "camp, study, experiment, and participate in the local food system."

They spent a week camping alongside the ranch's yurts and old farmhouse (where farm interns and staff reside). Morning farm work was dedicated to such tasks as picking berries and milking a pregnant cow, Adelaide, the ranch’s first and only cow. Afternoons were spent reflecting on and developing their personal projects.

At the end of their stay, students participated in Pie Ranch’s monthly barn dance. Two additional weeks were spent at CCA’s San Francisco campus to finish the projects. The projects this year ranged from a pair of earrings for Adelaide to a book that explains how the ranch upholds sustainable practices.

Last spring the class took its involvement with Pie Ranch beyond the standard coursework by pairing with Bay Area design firm ZURB to participate in a 24-hour marketing blitz, the second annual ZURBwired. ZURBwired, according to its website, is "a 24-hour coffee-fueled marketing marathon during which we [ZURB] select one local nonprofit and help them accomplish a huge goal." The goal was accomplished by a team composed of CCA students, Pie Ranch staff and volunteers, ZURB designers, and one inspirational chicken. The team spent the 24 hours brainstorming, sketching, and producing a new website for Pie Ranch as well as designing a theme and printing collateral for its Dinner with Adelaide event, the ranch’s biggest fundraiser to date.

This year’s "Dinner with Adelaide" is scheduled for August 29, 2009. Celebrated local chefs from Spork, Hayes Street Grill, The Alembic Bar, Kitchenette, and Range will prepare a five-course dinner to be served alfresco on one long table. With the help of a brick oven (built by Lynch) and the CCA students, the chefs will prepare fresh produce from Pie Ranch and its suppliers to showcase the bounty of agricultural products the local area offers.

For more information about purchasing tickets for “A Dinner with Adelaide,” or to learn more about Pie Ranch's monthly volunteer days and barn dances, visit the Pie Ranch website.