Buffalo State College’s Seventh Annual Western New York Clay Olympics will take place at 11 a.m., Wednesday, May 18, in the ceramics studio in Upton Hall 128 on the campus at 1300 Elmwood Ave.

The event will begin at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center with a 10:15 a.m. lecture and slide presentation by Robert Booth, sculptor and professor at SUNY Fredonia.. The Clay Olympics events will get under way at 11 a.m., and include a day-long exhibition of the artwork by students participating in the competition. Booth will jury the students’ works for cash awards.

This year’s contest features four Buffalo State alumni who teach art in local high schools – Matt Sagurney from Kenmore East, Ann Perry-Smith from Lancaster, Brett Coppins from Lewiston-Porter and Scott Losi from Pioneer – and their students competing against each other in various timed events using clay and clay-forming methods. In all, about 35 students, working individually and in teams, will be involved in the Olympic-style competitions.

The overall team point winner of all the competitions will receive a trophy created by last year’s winner, and each school will design a t-shirt commemorating the event.

In addition, a day-long exhibition of student artwork from the competing high schools will be on display in the Upton Hall gallery 234.

The event is made possible by the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment of the Burchfield-Penney Cart Center, Sheffield Pottery, Lewiston-Porter High School and the Arts and Humanities Office of Buffalo State College, and was coordinated by Lewiston-Porter’s Coppins and Buffalo State College Professor of Design Robert Wood.