The mission of Community Clayworks is to foster a love of ceramic arts and support a clay community in the Santa Ynez valley.
Alana
Trubitz
Alana is a lifelong potter who fell in love with clay as a kid at summer camp. She minored in Art with a Pottery focus at American University with classes at the Corcoran School of Art, apprenticed teaching at Hinkley Pottery in Washington DC, and taught beginner wheel for over a decade at BitterRoot in Los Angeles prior to moving to the Valley. Alana's class will put the FUN in FUNctional as we learn to make wheel-thrown bowls, cups, and more.
Cindy Henning
Cindy’s love affair with clay started over 35 years ago. For as far back as she can remember she has always had her hands in the mud. Working with clay, first recreationally then professionally, has been a lifelong passion…and dream. With years of instruction by many talented ceramic artists to draw from, she is thrilled to introduce clay to the next generation of ceramic artists right here in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley.
Joy
Hylton
Joy has been loving and dreaming of clay on and off for 50 years. Having learned from many different potters, she brings an esoteric collection of skills to her textured functional pottery. She specializes in making tripod mugs.
kayla
aguirre
Kayla jumped into her first wheel class in 2023, and was immediately hooked. She moved back to the central coast to begin studying full time after that. She enjoys creating both functional and sculptural pottery, and nerding out over glaze chemistry.
Staci
Curry
taci has been playing with clay for around 20 years. She loves learning, teaching, and exploring the boundaries of pottery. Staci is always up for testing a clay “rule.” She owned a clay studio and gallery in NY for 11 years. She has a home studio where she makes and fires her work to sell at art shows and festivals.
our founder
Veronica Medina
Veronica has been working with clay since 1995. She holds both a BA in Anthropology and a MA in Art Education from New York University. Her continued clay studies, residencies, and travels have led her to ceramic studios throughout the world influencing her perspective and knowledge of ceramic techniques and associated clay cultures. Veronica was a member artist and teacher at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, NY. She taught at various community centers and camps throughout the NYC area as well as 6-12 grade ceramics for 9 years at Trevor Day School in Manhattan and more recently at Dunn School and Solvang Middle School in the Santa Ynez Valley of CA. In 2020, she founded Community Clayworks, an inclusive ceramics studio in Buellton, CA. In 2022 the Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Coalition and Economic Development Collaborative highlighted Community Clayworks as a success story.
we offer
courses
Adult courses guide and support students towards achieving their individual goals. While skills are taught and projects are suggested, students are encouraged to follow their interests. Clay must be purchased from the studio.
Children’s classes introduce clay skills and techniques through open ended projects. Students will be encouraged to play and discover ways to express themselves. All materials are included.
Camps
A series of themed camps will be offered through the summer. A typical 3 hour camp experience will include skill building, experimenting with ideas, and creating original work. Campers will also have the three hours interspersed with clay games and a snack break half way through the class. Finished pieces will likely be ready for pick up the following week. All materials are included.
Memberships
Memberships are for students who already know their way around a ceramics studio. Both monthly and yearly memberships entitle members to 24 hour access to the studio and a private shelf space. Members are required to use the Momence application to schedule studio time and space. An orientation will be scheduled to explain Momence booking and studio procedures, including lock-up responsibilities. Additional benefits include a 20% discount on classes and workshops, and a 10% discount on artwork purchased
in the Community Clayworks store.
In the Media
Read: Get crafty while you sip at Community Clayworks by Elisa Parhad
watch: “Take the Doughnut with Melissa Forziat” for some thoughts on motivation
Listen to: “Anatomy of Motherhood: finding your identity as a creative mom and business owner”
Listen to: “Meet me in Buellton” to learn more about the studio
Read our first newspaper article
Read about how the business started in shoutout LA
Watch our segment in a condensed version of discover the Santa Ynez Valley
Edit from Discover the Santa Ynez Valley Season 2, Episode 13
Food For Thought
“The essential ingredients for creativity remain exactly the same for everybody: courage, enchantment, permission, persistence, trust—and those elements are universally accessible. Which does not mean that creative living is always easy; it merely means that creative living is always possible.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear