Abby Callaghan graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2017 with a BFA in ceramics and art history. In 2019 she received her MAT from the University of Central Missouri.  She has been working with clay for 12 years and teaching ceramics at the Clay Guild for 4 years. During the week she is an elementary art teacher for pre-k through 5th grade. Abby currently teaches the adult wheel class on Saturdays and parent & child handbuilding class on Saturdays. She has also taught the youth summer camp as well as Sunday pottery classes. 

To see more of Abby's work, check out her instagram or website!

Alex Watson graduated with a BFA in Ceramics from Utah State University in 2005. After graduating, he taught ceramics classes and managed the ceramics department at a small school in the Berkshires. In 2008, Watson moved to Colorado, where he lived and worked until 2013.  He was an artist in residence at the Carbondale Clay Center and Studio for Artists Works. In 2010, he was a visiting artist at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in China.  Upon returning from China, Watson became a full time studio potter.  He is now in Kansas City, MO and is a founding member of the Kansas City Urban Potters.

You can see more of Alex's work at kcurbanpotters.com.

Amy Meya is primarily a self-taught ceramic artist, education includes living and working in The Netherlands for five years, and extensive travel throughout Europe. Limited formal  education through the KC Art Institute, and Longview Community College. A six year exhibitor at the Buyer's Market of American Craft in Philadelphia, from 2008-2013.

Check out her website.

Anne Mulvill has been a fulltime ceramicist since the mid-90s; she specializes in functional items made from porcelain. Anne began her career in Washington, D.C. where she studied at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and was a studio potter and instructor at Hinkley Pottery. In 1999, she joined Kansas City's Red Star Studios and began teaching at the K.C. Clay Guild — where she teaches a Thursday night class for advanced potters. Anne is also a former Clay Guild board member. Anne's studio is based at Barbershop Gallery in Midtown Kansas City.

Check out her website.

Joseph L. Smith is one of the founding members of the K.C. Clay Guild.  He has an Associate Arts of Arts from Penn Valley Community College, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a Masters of Arts from UCM in Warrensburg, Mo.  As an artist he has had over 12 one person exhibitions and participated in the Brookside Art Annual, Prairie Village Art Show, Crown Center Art Exhibition, and Laclede's Art Exhibition in St. Louis, Missouri, all of these are juried local events.   In total he has been selected for inclusion for over 100 juried exhibitions across the US.   His art works are part of the Sprint Collection, Truman Medical Center Collection, Gates and Sons, Gamier, & Wirth, Inc and in the collection of Christopher ( Kit ) Bond, former Governor and Senator of Missouri.

Currently he is a signature member of KWS, MOWS, TWS and a juried member of WW society.  He served as Vice President of the KC Clay Guild for several years and started Raku night as a fund raiser.  While on the KC Clay Guild board he suggested having a tea bowl exhibition to raise funds and to seek grant funds from the Francis Family Foundation.

One of Joe's many objectives is to instruct individuals in creating functional and creative clay designs. 

Kelsie Herron came to KC Clay Guild as a resident artist in fall of 2017 after receiving her BFA from University of Missouri. During the second year of her residency she joined the Board of Directors and have worked as Workshops Chair and currently as Publicity Chair. She enjoys engaging with the KCCG community through social media, promoting our events, building relationships with people in the arts community, and highlighting the work of our members. 

She have worked as the Saturday Kid’s Class instructor since 2018 and when she is not teaching, firing the community soda kiln, or doing board member activities, she works as a barista at The Roasterie. 

In her spare time she enjoys gardening, practicing martial arts, and trying(!) to have a more regular studio practice of her own. 

Louis Reilly is a studio potter and Studio Director of KC Clay Guild. His studio practice focuses on soda fired functional pottery. Louis has taught ceramics at art centers and universities for 15 years. He holds a MFA from Utah State University and a BFA from University of Missouri-Columbia. Louis lives with his wife, son and dog in Lee's Summit, MO.

Check out his website and Instagram.

Nell Hull began working with clay in college and was drawn to its subtlety and versatility. Art, and clay in particular, gave them a new way of seeing the world and themselves in it. It was when physically creating that they realized they were also free to create within.

Their figurative sculptures are currently meditations on themes from their childhood. Nell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (2018) from Kansas State University and is a current Artist in Residence at KC Clay Guild.

Check out their website.

Mike Cerv

As an alumni of the Kansas City Art Institute in 2017 and MFA graduate from Louisiana State University in 2021, Mike Cerv maintains an educational and artistic practice both in studio and online. Alongside this, Cerv produces templates and tools to assist ceramic artists of all experience levels.

Check out his website.

Frank Thong was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and earned a BFA in Ceramics, a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship with and Asian Studies certificate from the Kansas City Art Institute.  Currently, he is artist in resident at both the KC Clay Guild and Charlotte Street Foundation and has previously been an artist in resident at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary.  He has received various grants such as the McKeown Special Project Award, Nathan and Thelma Notkin Ceramic Award, and the William Lee Scholarship.  Growing us as an Asian-American, Frank has always felt like an outlier among his peers.  His work focuses on the balance between Eastern and Western influences which is contextualized through his cultural identity.  Previously, Frank has conducted social gatherings to encourage the growth of the Asian community at the Kansas City Art Institute.  Frank further plans to utilize his experiences and education to create spaces for the local Asian-American community to share, connect, and create.

 

Kelly Lynn Daniels is a California native, Kelly moved to New Bedford, MA where she received her MFA in Ceramics from UMass, Dartmouth. In 2016, following graduation, she accepted the Red Star Residency in Ceramics at Belger Crane Yard Studios in Kansas City, MO. In 2018 her residency was completed and Kelly decided to stay and put down roots in the wonderfully supportive art community. Kelly divides her time between her home studio, KC Clay Guild, and Belger Crane Yard Studios. She draws inspiration from flora and fauna, memory, and the passage of time. When she isn’t making pottery, she spends time foraging for mushrooms, working in her garden and playing with her dog and three cats.

Chablis Sanchez-Martin 

Hi! I am an artist, athlete, art teacher and mother of 3 grown children. Clay and the creative process is a passion of mine that I love sharing! I sculpt and wheel throw. I love being part of a community that has shared interests. 

Izanna Perry graduated from the University of Iowa in 2020 with a BFA in ceramics and has worked with clay for eight years. She moved to the Kansas City area in 2021 and started teaching at the KC Clay Guild in 2023. Izanna predominantly uses handbuilding techniques in her work, which utilize the human form to create humorous and eerie sculptures. She takes inspiration from her childhood experiences, her own anxieties about life, forms found in nature, and whatever her current obsession is, right now it's clowns.

Jacqueline Kaplan was born and raised in Kansas City. She is a self and locally taught ceramic artist who recently graduated with her associate degree and esthetics license from Johnson County Community College. She has been working with clay for six years and began selling her work two years ago. Jacqueline has been a monitor for the Guild for about a year but recently began teaching and really enjoys getting to know people through her private lessons. She is involved in many local pop-up events and was recently recognized as Mug of the Month at Belger Arts. Jacqueline is primarily a wheel-thrower but also enjoys the endless possibilities of handbuilding and sculpture. She enjoys connecting with people, whether that be through her makeup artistry, teaching pottery classes, or volunteering at the KCCG. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her boyfriend and their cat and finding fun places to eat!