IN 2022, when Covid was still very much with us and our sense of isolation had deepened and solidified like three-week-old coffee dregs in a forgotten mug, several local ceramicists met over coffee to solve a problem.
Each of us had moved to Prescott from other towns where we’d enjoyed the many benefits of being part of community ceramics studios. We began looking at downtown properties, crunching numbers, thinking of catchy names. It was fun, exciting, daunting. We quickly got overwhelmed and decided to put it to rest.
What we missed was taking part in ongoing classes, weekend workshops, visiting artists, 24/7 access to the studio, and best of all being constantly around other clay lovers, learning from each other, building skills and relationships. When we came there was no organized group of ceramics artists meeting together, no network of clay enthusiasts to connect with, nor a community studio we could join.
After a period of reflection, two of us began thinking again about how to meet this need, and we had an epiphany. Instead of the “if-you-build-it-they-will-come” model, we felt it would be much more organic to begin at the other end, by first finding and building the clay community, then creating the studio together.
We began with the most fundamental building block for human connection: food. We started hosting monthly potlucks for anyone working in or interested in clay, from novices to hobbyists to professionals. These events have continued and been a huge success, forging friendships, sharing resources, questions, excellent food and so much laughter. We are building an organic, relationship-based community through potlucks, conversations and networking.
We called ourselves Mud Makers. We charge nothing to join our ranks.
Julie Ferguson: “Joining Mud Makers has helped me grow as a potter more than any online tutorial, Instagram or Pinterest post ever could. The energy, ideas and sense of community I was missing for years as a hobby potter, I found in this amazing local group. I encourage anyone who plays in clay to attend a monthly potluck, meet other local potters and get involved with Mud Makers. You won’t regret it.”
Now a 501c3 nonprofit, Mud Makers has been serving the community for almost three years, offering workshops through the year taught by local professional artists. Workshops have included wheel-throwing, lidded boxes, sagger and raku firings, handle making, wall pockets and trimming. Mud Makers workshops are open to the public and fill up quickly.
Debbie Celebucki: “What inspires me about Mud Makers is the wealth of knowledge, richness of experience in the collective and the amazing generosity with which it is shared.”
From the outset Mud Makers has included in its mission the bringing of clay experiences to those in our community who could benefit especially from the healing qualities of working with this medium. We have formed partnerships with Yavapai Big Brothers-Big Sisters, The Launch Pad Teen Center and Rise Above the Clouds summer camp for children in foster care. We have seen some incredibly moving, transformational moments in these settings, where working with clay can bring a calmness and centering to an anxious, agitated soul.
Mud Makers is connecting with groups in the region who will benefit from getting their hands in clay. We are committed to covering the costs of this outreach work. Mud Makers has been instrumental in building collaboration between clay clubs at Prescott College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where resources and space are shared, and Mud Makers artists will continue to offer workshops to help students grow their skills and be included in our ceramics community.
Mud Makers has also forged a connection with Prescott Empty Bowls. Through its annual event on the courthouse plaza, offering handmade bowls and fabulous soups by local chefs for the donation, Empty Bowls raises tens of thousands of dollars, all of which goes to address local food insecurity. Mud Makers networks this event, getting the word out to all the “Muddies,”sharing studio space and resources, even offering a class on bowl-production techniques and bowl trimming in preparation for the Empty Bowls event. Last year Mud Makers members produced over $12,000 worth of bowls for this event. We love getting muddy for a cause!
Mud Makers is becoming known in our area as a vibrant, community-forward organization and will soon begin a capital campaign to realize our goal of creating a community ceramics studio. The vision is to be in downtown Prescott, where we can be part of the arts-and-culture vibe, have a ceramics-focused gallery participating in the 4th Friday Art Walk, offer ongoing classes for all skill levels and youth, including a summer clay camp, workshops taught by nationally known artists, individual rental studio spaces and a gathering area with a kitchen and coffee bar. So many people have approached us looking for just this: a community clay space.
MudFest at the Art Hive
Mud Makers has enjoyed a close relationship with the Art Hive since it began. The Hive is a large, long space with many individual art studio rooms, an art gallery and larger spaces for meetings and events. Because the Hive is in an old building, fire code prohibits anything fire-related, so no pottery kilns, but networking and support channels have been active between the Hive and Mud Makers from the beginning.
Late this month will bring MudFest, a collaboration between the Art Hive Foundation and Mud Makers, an invitational show showcasing the work of 20 local potters and clay artists. The show opens on Thursday February 26 and will be up till March 24. The opening reception will be held on February 27 (with the 4th Friday Art Walk), 5-8pm.
Featured in the show will be fine-art ceramics, functional work, and demonstrations both on the potter’s wheel and in hand-building by some of the featured artists and other local ceramicists. This collaborative event highlights one of Prescott’s best qualities, namely the great goodwill that exists between the many arts organizations in our town. Rather than competing with each other for funds and patrons, artists, galleries and art-centered venues all actively promote one another.
To learn more about the Art Hive and the MudFest, visit arthive.space. For more about Mud Makers, visit mudmakers.org.
Mud Makers: Why Now?
“Why?,” you may ask, “would you possibly choose to start an arts nonprofit now, when life is becoming so scary and unpredictable? When people are least likely to want to loosen their purse strings for something so seemingly frivolous as making pinch pots with kids? When millions are holding their breath to see if they will have access to essential federal benefits that provide shelter, food and medication to keep them above ground? There is so much screaming need all around us, and here we are, roosting in our nest of privilege, throwing cake at the terrifying chaos in the form of clay lessons for engineering students.
Absolutely, I think. At times it seems that focusing on art at this time is ridiculous, even wasteful, not to mention crazy in thinking that anyone should consider parting with their fluctuating funds to support the arts.
But here’s the thing: art is never frivolous. Art is what defines us as truly human.
No other species on earth makes art. We humans can pick up a pencil, or anything, really, and do something with it that takes what’s inside us — a thought, a feeling, an urge, an unarticulated idea — and put it right out there into the world. We can make something that no one else has done in quite the same way.
Art defines us as humans, lifts us up into the realm of divine creation and out of the cold, materialistic paradigm. So we need art, especially in tough times.
Art can do something else as well, something even better than manifesting truth, beauty and goodness. It can lift others up and enrich the whole community.
Countries that invest in their artists are building wealth in shared beauty and common vision. Many large corporations have huge endowments supporting the arts as a way of giving back to communities. Community art centers bring people together to grow their skills, and many, many friendships and connections are made through making art together.
Surely everyone here in Prescott will agree that our vibrant local art scene adds color, fun and life to our local vibe. Look at Chalk it Up, Art Swoop and our 4th Friday Art Walks. Remember Tsunami on the Square? Acker Night gets everyone out together on a cold December night.
Experiencing and making art together builds the fabric of community. In a time of great suffering, when we are forced to make do with less, when the lines at the shelters are getting longer, the cultivation of art in all parts of society is essential. Making art, the act of creating, is essential in reminding us of our humanity, that we are not just physical bodies slogging through life, but radiant beings who can and should share what unique gifts we each have.
So yes, we at Mud Makers are daring to take this initiative, to become a known and trusted presence in this community because we believe working with clay is healing and brings joy. We have experienced this joy in our lives, and we make it accessible to others. We dare to believe that others also know and value as deeply as we do the importance of providing transformative experiences working with clay.
