Carve Your Story: A Hands-On Brickmaking Experience

Explore Ohio’s brickmaking heritage, sketch and carve your own brick design, and learn how historic bricks tell stories of our region.
About this Event

Step into the history of Southeast Ohio’s early brickmaking industry with local experts Tyler Hampshire and Ed Newman as they share their knowledge and collections of historic bricks and the stories they tell about the region’s communities, industries, and built heritage.

Following a brief introduction, participants will have the opportunity to get hands-on with the brickmaking process. Tyler, who works at Hanover Brick Company, will provide unfired “green” bricks made from raw clay for participants to carve and personalize with their own designs. Participants will also have the option to sketch their ideas before carving them. The finished bricks will be fired after the program and made available for participants to pick up afterward.

Sketches and examples from Tyler and Ed’s brick collections may also be featured as part of The Early Industry exhibition at The Southeast Ohio History Center. 

This program is part of Ohio Country 1776: Gateway to America, a series of free, hands-on programs exploring the people, places, skills, and landscapes that shaped Appalachian Ohio and the early United States.

This program is made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.