“Mugg’n It Up,” an art education special topics class, is conducting a study to research if working with clay can decrease anxiety levels. 

Research participants create mugs and other clay creations and evaluate if they experienced decreased stress. 

Susan Whiteland, Ph.D., a professor of art education, leads this research study. She said the research measures stress levels using qualitative and quantitative data. 

“We are doing some self-reporting where they’re going to complete these different forms. We’re also using an oximeter to see about blood pressure and oxygen level to see if that changes as well. We actually have a cortisol test that we’ll do later on in the semester,” Whiteland said. 

The study began in the fall semester through a Faculty Research Grant. After this semester, the class hopes to report their findings. 

“We have had small numbers, so statistically, there hasn’t been anything conclusive at this point,” Whiteland said. “But we are seeing trends when it comes to doing something that’s on a daily basis. We have a daily check-in and check-out that is tending to show us that, yes, what the literature says is correct and that it is making a difference on their stress and anxiety levels.”

Lauren Skaggs, a sophomore social work major from Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, is taking the class. 

Skaggs and Whiteland have been going to The Learning Center (TLC), a children’s therapy center, on Friday mornings to teach kids how to work with clay. The class is working on involving ceramic students from Jonesboro High School with their work at TLC. 

Skaggs said she hopes to use what she learns with this class in her future career as a social worker but has also learned ways to manage her stress. 

“We’ve learned four or five different breathing techniques, and so that has been something that has really helped,” Skaggs said. “(I have learned) not to let my anxiety and stress go into making clay. When I’m stressed, I like to use too much pressure and that messes up the clay. So just learning to breathe and calm down, that really helps.”

Mary Smith, who works at Textbook Brokers, is participating in the study to help release her stress. 

“(My stress) decreases when I come to class and then when I’m leaving class, but in the middle of it I kind of get a little bit tense, I kind of stress out whenever things aren’t going the way I think they should go,” Smith said. 

Smith attends the class with her friends Dionne Haag, who works with her at Textbook Brokers, and Christie Goldsmith, who works as a realtor with Century 21. 

Goldsmith said she has experienced decreased stress levels as a result of the class. 

“When we test our vitals, it’s always a little lower after class,” Goldsmith said. “It’s a nice little breather for me to check out and come here and do something for myself.”

Whiteland said on the last day of the study, the class will drink out of their mugs.

“In the past, what we have done is the last day that we’ve been together, we have a celebration and they actually put something in the cup for them to drink out of to make sure it works. So, that’s really fun,” Whiteland said. 

The class is still open to new participants. It is held from 2-3:20 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in Room 105 in the Fine Arts Center. 

Categories: Arts & Entertainment