Here in Tacoma, we have been organizing informal, (mostly) monthly meetings of the local ceramics practitioners to build community and to provide some historical perspective to a growing but young group.  Among our goals is the introduction to some of these younger potters to those who have laid the groundwork in the field. Unfortunately, an awful lot of them have little foundation in the local history or that of the art as a whole.   (To put it bluntly, I would like to introduce my peers to this new crowd while we’re still around.) 

Academic clay programs are being lost or diminished, new clay practitioners are learning the mechanics without any of the foundational history of the art.  With markets moving from galleries and fairs to the internet, (not to mention the effects of the COVID pandemic) it seems that we've all become more isolated.   We fear that the history of clay in the area will be lost if we don't put ourselves out there. 

Typically, there are three components to this gathering:  A meet and greet, a game that we call “Potle”, (after Wordle, Artle), and the main event; a speaker who can present their art, philosophy, business, and expertise. People often hang around to chat after the event.

Our goal is to keep these groups small; we maxed out at fifty and now limit to 35 attendees.  We're meeting at the private home of our hosts Kristina Batiste and Ben McDonald.  In our first two years, we’ve had Loren Lukens, John Benn and Colleen Gallagher, Ken Turner, Dan Barnett, Gina Freuen, Anika Major, Reid Ozaki, Deb Schwartzkopf, Anthony Gaudino, Sam Scott, Patti Warashina and Clay Art Center Tacoma give presentations to our group. And, there’s snacks!

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