Founders & Foundations
1974
1984
1992
Related Works
Claire Rodgers
Athens.4
Medium & Materials:
porcelain
Measurements:
15”h x 14”w
Date:
2022
Description:
I arrived in 1976 as a Clay Studio Resident Artist. Previously I worked in my own studio, alone, for 4 years. I fit right into the Founder’s mission at the time – offering potters starting out on their artistic journey studio space, kilns, glaze chemicals, and facilities.
Even though I left in 1980, I remained in Philadelphia and The Clay Studio continued to enrich my artistic life with lectures, workshops, as well as studio, collector, and gallery trips. Also, as a Clay Studio board member and executive board member over many years, I continually visited the building, gallery, and resident artists, which informed what I was doing in my own studio. Being on the Board improved my communication, financial, and management skills. The Claymobile made me realize the importance of clay as a teaching tool and a way to reach out to the communities around us.
Simply put, its foundation as a Resident Artists program established The Clay Studio as a community. In these 50 years many wonderful people have passed through and remain in my life.
Making my way through the Clay Studio Resident Artist community in the 1970s - the trips, lectures, board meetings, and all the other get-togethers – established for me the concept of Art As Community.
Claire Rodgers
The Highlands
Medium & Materials:
stoneware
Measurements:
11” x 11”
Date:
1995
Jimmy Clark
Back Together
Medium & Materials:
Earthenware, pit-fired
Date:
2015
Description:
There is no question that the highlight of my tenure at The Clay Studio was our relocation to 139 N Second St in 1990. The additional space allowed us to do things we would never have dreamed of in our smaller home one block south at 49 N. 2nd, such as major international and national exhibitions.
Nevertheless, after the establishment of the Claymobile Program, and the International artist in residency program, I had a reflective moment one day and burst with pride that we had essentially succeeded in reaching all possible levels of people engaged in clay. Children from diverse neighborhoods around Philadelphia, adults of all ages, raw beginners, dedicated amateurs and aspiring professionals in advanced classes and the Associates Artist program, career development in the Resident program, and fully professional artists from around the world, national and local. We also drew vastly increased attention from serious collectors and clay aficionados both locally and from across the country.
A huge community all getting along (for the most part) united solely in our common love for the material and all the varying and amazing things that can be done with it. It felt like home.
Jimmy Clark
Heads
Date:
1983
Jimmy Clark
Spring
Medium & Materials:
glazed sawdust-fired ceramic
Date:
2023
Amy Sarners Williams
Vase
Description:
My connection to the Studio has developed over most of my adult life, starting in 1975 at the age of 24. I have been a Resident Artist, Associate Artist, Guest Artist, instructor, student, board member, board chair, development staff, executive director, CEO, financial supporter, capital campaign team member, and admirer. Whew!
My life has been transformed in so many ways that it’s hard to even imagine who I would be without the Studio’s influence. My home is filled with clay work from hundreds of artists who have graced the Studio over the years; I feel their presence every day. Some of my dearest life-long friends are from the early days of the Studio as an artist collective; others are people I worked with on Staff or on the Board. While on Staff for 17 years, I transformed myself from an arts enthusiast into a community-minded and effective leader.
I have seen the Studio transform itself many times over, as well as transform just about everyone who has come through its doors. I’ve seen it transform a neighborhood into a thriving cultural district, transform art education for young people with little access to art in their communities, expose audiences to artists from across the globe, and attract exceptional young talent to Philadelphia who themselves have transformed the cultural fabric of the city.
As The Clay Studio approached its 50th anniversary, it reinvented itself again, creating the finest urban space for ceramic art and artists in the world. With this newest chapter in the organization’s history, the Studio fulfills its promise to its founders and supporters: Engage with the myriad possibilities that The Clay Studio offers and be changed forever. I certainly have been.
Jill Bonovitz
Plate
Description:
When I left Moore College of Art in 1974, there weren’t many opportunities to transition from art school to a communal place to continue working in clay. Luckily, our Ceramics teacher, Ken Vavrek, and four of us who were students at the time, moved into a loft building to collaborate and set up a place where we could work together as we furthered our artistic skills and developed our work.
This beginning morphed into The Clay Studio with a primary mission of providing this transition to other artists and remains so to this day. The Clay Studio has grown into an international center for everything having to do with clay; resident artists, Claymobile, classes, gallery, community activities, and the shop.
What The Clay Studio did was to enable me to begin a career as an artist and continue with the opportunity to make a contribution to the field in which I have spent my entire career. Without The Clay Studio, I may not have remained in the world of Ceramics.
Kathie Dalzell
Mug
Description:
The early years of The Clay Studio were some of the happiest of my life. I was in my late 20s and had just left Moore College of Art. I didn’t know what it meant to be a potter or how to set up a studio. I learned both by starting and working at The Clay Studio.
It was an extraordinary experience. Initially, there were only 5 of us in the original space on Orianna Street, but it was a community. There was always someone to ask about which glaze to use or the right cone for your firing. We’d all gather on the loading dock for lunch. The friendships I made then are still going strong.
As our numbers grew to 10 and then 20 people, we needed more structure and rules, and I continued to learn. How to build a kiln and hang drywall; how to teach a class; how to set up a nonprofit and apply for grants;and how to collect insurance after a devastating fire. The fact that we persevered was perhaps the greatest lesson: the power of commitment. I never imagined that The Clay Studio would be what it is today. It has survived all these years because so many people believe in its mission, especially our strong leaders and generous donors.
It was extremely difficult when I left after having children and moved to my own studio, but I’ve stayed connected and have contributed in any way I can.
I’m incredibly proud of what it’s become.
Kathryn Narrow
Decanter with 5 Cups
Date:
c. 1980
Description:
I have been involved with The Clay Studio since 1978.
When I joined, I was a Resident Artist. I was a production potter working in functional ceramics and selling at craft fairs and wholesaling up and down the east coast. As a member of a cooperative, I sat in on the monthly discussions about the workings of the studio, the application for the PA Non-Profit application we prepared to enable us to accept non-taxable gifts, and did various jobs. All of these were new experiences to a single potter working from a home studio.
These were just the beginning of my learning experiences. These would include building kilns with others, mapping studio spaces, classrooms, chemical labs, gallery and shop spaces. My first job was running the school program, artist billing, the gallery and shop, managing a commercial space, and keeping up repairs. These as well as assistant to the Director, the studio’s first paid position. From there I became the Gallery Manager, School Manager, Claymobile Director (a program I created), General Manager, and finally Managing Director. Additionally, there were 2 - 6 month periods as temporary Director, during searches for a new director.
I managed to keep working in clay during all these jobs. I shifted from a production potter to making limited edition and one of a kind porcelain work. I continued applying to craft shows of a more limited type and showed work in galleries around the country. The reason was the artists, associates, students, staff, board, and collectors that I met through the Clay Studio. It was this environment that was the focus of my continued learning and growth. The Clay Studio has become my life center and a second family.
Kathryn Narrow
Vegetable Soup Tureen
Medium & Materials:
Porcelain
Date:
c. 1985
Janice Merendino
Small Tea Bowl
Description:
We started The Clay Studio the same year I graduated from Moore College of Art. At that time, my options as a ceramic student were to either continue at a university or find space on my own.
Because of these limited options, the studio’s early days were exciting for me as a young potter. That sense of community made that scary leap from student to artist feel more achievable. The Clay Studio was so valuable because young graduates were treated as colleagues and our ideas and work were respected.
Being a founding member of The Clay Studio stretched my idea of what I could accomplish both individually and in collaboration with a group. I also benefited from the warmth of life-long friendships and continuing stimulation as an artist.
Janice Merendino
Tea Bowls (2)
Date:
1982
Kirk Mangus
Large Fish Pot
Description:
Kirk Mangus made an early acquaintance with clay. His father, a high school art teacher in Mercer, PA, was interested in ceramics and studied with Toshiko Takeazu at the Cleveland Institute of Arts in night school. In his teens he often accompanied his father to his classes at Penland School of Crafts. After earning his B.F.A. in 1975, Mangus began working at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia, where he was an active and beloved Resident Artist.
His fascination with all things clay stems from his sheer love of the medium. “I want my pots to not be something that sits back but to reach out and grab you,” Mangus said; he saw his work as being about “movement and leaving an object frozen in motion.” Through his work Mangus reflects on the human condition, the cycle of life and death and the acceptance of mortality - the knowledge of the tragedy of existence tempered by the eternal link between everything that has been and everything that is.
Mangus went on to be Professor of Ceramics at Kent State University, he was a prolific artist whose ceramics and drawings have been exhibited and collected worldwide. He received two National Endowment for the Arts grants, four Ohio Arts Council fellowships, a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship, and a McKnight fellowship . Kirk is remembered with great admiration, and sorrow for his too early loss, by his fellow Resident Artists.
Kirk Mangus
Vessel with Handled Lid
Medium & Materials:
Stoneware
Date:
c.1976
Amy Sarner Williams
Sacred Canyon
Medium & Materials:
Raku-fired stoneware, with engobes
Date:
1982
Description:
My connection to the Studio has developed over most of my adult life, starting in 1975 at the age of 24. I have been a Resident Artist, Associate Artist, Guest Artist, instructor, student, board member, board chair, development staff, executive director, CEO, financial supporter, capital campaign team member, and admirer. Whew!
My life has been transformed in so many ways that it’s hard to even imagine who I would be without the Studio’s influence. My home is filled with clay work from hundreds of artists who have graced the Studio over the years; I feel their presence every day. Some of my dearest life-long friends are from the early days of the Studio as an artist collective; others are people I worked with on Staff or on the Board. While on Staff for 17 years, I transformed myself from an arts enthusiast into a community-minded and effective leader.
I have seen the Studio transform itself many times over, as well as transform just about everyone who has come through its doors. I’ve seen it transform a neighborhood into a thriving cultural district, transform art education for young people with little access to art in their communities, expose audiences to artists from across the globe, and attract exceptional young talent to Philadelphia who themselves have transformed the cultural fabric of the city.
As The Clay Studio approached its 50th anniversary, it reinvented itself again, creating the finest urban space for ceramic art and artists in the world. With this newest chapter in the organization’s history, the Studio fulfills its promise to its founders and supporters: Engage with the myriad possibilities that The Clay Studio offers and be changed forever. I certainly have been.
Amy Sarner Williams
Landscape Platter
Date:
1987
Amy Sarner Williams
Beyond The Horizon
Amy Sarner Williams
Tulip Vase
Ken Vavrek
Untitled-pl523
Description:
The first building our realtor showed us turned out to be the first home of The Clay Studio. It was perfect. A three story concrete, factory-like structure, except it was way too large for the six of us, five of my students from Moore College of Art & Design and myself. They had just graduated and needed a studio. I needed one too so we joined forces and went looking.
After checking out the building thoroughly we couldn't get over the fact that the high-ceilinged basement was perfect for a gas-fired kiln, which we wanted. And there was a little space between the buildings that could hold the propane tanks. This was beyond what we had expected to find.
Within a year we had 18 members. Some of which would grow to be lifelong friends. We came from different backgrounds but we all loved putting The Clay Studio together. I was happy working next to others working on their individual clay projects. And the team effort to get our gas kiln built was especially exciting and rewarding. We all revealed the uniqueness of our shared experience as well as having a place to settle in and make things with clay.
It’s amazing now to see what has grown from such small beginnings. I feel fortunate to have played a part in its conception.
Kathie Dalzell
Platter
Medium & Materials:
Porcelain
Date:
c. 1995
Syd Carpenter
Cure In A Bottle
Medium & Materials:
Stoneware
Date:
1994
Description:
In the 1970's I was part of a shared studio space near The Clay Studio's first building on Orianna Street. The proximity to a wide community of fellow artists working in clay was inspiring, and was part of what encouraged my husband, Steve Donegan, and I to organize the 915 Spring Garden studio building. Over the years as a ceramic artist living in Philadelphia The Clay Studio's presence has created a sense of community in clay.
The Clay Studio is a studio, school and exhibition space that for decades has been an invaluable resource for local, national, and International artists. Whether just beginning or having reached the highest recognition in the field, The Clay Studio provides its community with a state of the art facility in which to explore the medium to its fullest. I have personally witnessed the evolution from its very humble beginnings to its current pre-eminence and consider myself very fortunate as an artist to have benefitted from my treasured association with The Clay Studio.
Martha Jackson Jarvis
Time Gather
Medium & Materials:
Ceramic, metal, wood
Measurements:
36" x 22" x 8"
Date:
1989
Jill Bonovitz
Bowl Fired in the Fire
Medium & Materials:
Porcelain
Date:
1981
Description:
A bowl left in Jill's studio in the original building. When the building caught fire this bowl was fired in the flames.
Sybille Zeldin
Salt and Pepper Shakes
Sybille Zeldin
Umbrella Holder
Sybille Zeldin
Candle Holder
Kirk Mangus
Plate
Kirk Mangus
Handled Vase
Ken Vavrek
Rough Break
Medium & Materials:
Glazed stoneware
Date:
1981
Ken Vavrek
Desparado
Medium & Materials:
Glazed stoneware
Date:
1989
Kathie Dalzell
Vessel, c.1979
Medium & Materials:
Earthenware
Kathie Dalzell
Journey
Medium & Materials:
Porcelain
Measurements:
16" x 15.5" x 2.5"
Date:
2023
Janice Merendino
Trays with Raku Boxes
Medium & Materials:
Porcelain, raku
Date:
1996, 1997
Janice Merendino
Untitled 2199
Medium & Materials:
Ink and pastel on paper
Date:
1999
Janice Merendino
Untitled (2)
Medium & Materials:
Raku
Date:
1992
Janice Merendino
Tray with Box
Medium & Materials:
Raku
Date:
1997
Janice Merendino
Sweet Slumber
Medium & Materials:
Ink on paper
Measurements:
45" x 11.5"
Date:
2011
Kathryn Narrow
Ducklings in a Row
Medium & Materials:
Stoneware
Date:
1974
Martha Jackson-Jarvis
Pangolin Pot
Medium & Materials:
Dung-fired clay
Date:
1974
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