Our Origin Story

Felissa King (she/her) has always loved art, but jumped into 3D work with a BFA in sculpture in 2016.  After graduation, she began focusing on pottery as a member at BRICK Ceramic in Cleveland, prior to moving to Indianapolis and becoming a member at the Fountain Square Clay Center. 

Her work centers around botanicals and her love of gardening, using sliptrailed underglaze and carving to create detailed illustrated surfaces.  In her free time, you can find in her yard working on a variety of projects, reading on her front porch, riding her scooter Daisy, or biking around Indianapolis.

Amanda Pennington (she/her) received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Ceramics from Western Kentucky University (WKU) in May of 2016. Prior to graduation, Amanda worked as the summer clay intern at the Appalachian Center for Craft and as a ceramic technician at WKU. Following graduation, she continued her involvement in the craft school community by working as an Educational Assistant at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, as well as assisting at Penland School of Crafts. Amanda is now the co-owner of Yellow Door Ceramics Studio in Indianapolis, IN.

A teacher at heart, Sarah's teaching experience spans from wheel-thrown pottery, silversmithing, open-fire cooking/baking and yoga.  Sarah earned her BFA at Ball State University in 2008. Though her focus was in metalsmithing, she took all of the ceramics courses BSU offered; finding clay the perfect counter to the rigidity of metal.  Life brought her to work at Conner Prairie in 2012 where she began her decade-long journey as a potter; demonstrating and reproducing early 19th century pottery as well as teaching wheel-throwing classes in the modern studio.  She's currently a production potter at Gravesco Pottery.  When she's not working with clay, she's usually teaching, practicing or thinking about yoga.

Danielle is an Indianapolis-dwelling creative that is freshly back on the scene after the wild ride of becoming a mom! Offering experience in hand building and wheelthrowing, Danielle has taught a number of community art classes for children and adults (in Indiana and Arkansas!). You may remember her face from her time creating work and educational videos for AMACO! In her beginner wheelthrowing class, you can look forward to learning about ceramics as well as your own ability to take on challenges and growth creatively. (Not to mention colorful and bold surface decoration, interesting glaze techniques, and more.)

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Tracee has an extensive background in visual arts and has served years in the classroom as an art educator.  She has experience in wheel-throwing and hand-building, and has taught countless children, teens, and adults through her love for clay.  Her favorite things about ceramics are how forgiving the medium is, the ability to create something out of nothing, and how therapeutic the process is.  Inspired by botanicals and glaze experiments, Tracee looks forward to each piece coming out of the kiln to see how her creativity comes to fruition.

Katya Reinhard (they/them) is a ceramicist based in Indianapolis who primarily focuses in altering wheel thrown vessels with handbuilt elements. Their work tackles the intricacies of human relationships expressed through natural formations and plant imagery. Katya graduated in 2021 from Herron School of Art and Design with a BFA in ceramics and a minor in art history.

Christina has always had a passion for art, trying different mediums and experimenting with them. It wasn’t until high school that she picked up clay and started hand-building. After taking a wheel throwing class in her second year of college, she began delving further into the world of ceramics. Valuing experimentation and exploration, she loves to try out different glazes and techniques in her work!

When she’s not in the studio, she enjoys exploring Indianapolis for new restaurants and stores to try out or snuggling with her cat at home!

Katie fell in love with clay and all things sculptural 8 years ago when she took a high school ceramics class. Since then, she has explored the possible intersections of commensality, her love of pottery, and setting generous tables with good food.

Katie holds a certificate in Culinary Arts from Ivy Tech Community College (2019), and recently graduated from Taylor University with a BA in Art Therapy and a concentration in Sculpture and Ceramics (2023). In her four years at university, Katie discovered and explored the therapeutic possibilities in working with clay for students and clients. Her senior exhibition focused on work that gave voice to her various serious, funny, delightful, and nostalgic moments of exploring her identity as an Asian-American woman born and raised in the Midwest. She is currently completing a one-year fellowship at the Harrison Center as a resident artist and art administrator. When Katie isn't making art you can find her birdwatching at Eagle Creek, collecting ginkgo leaves on walks, or on the hunt for the most perfect and foolproof cream puff recipe! 

Ray White (she/her) has always enjoyed working with her hands, making things and growing plants. Ray has worked as a product designer for 8 years and as a vegetable farmer for 12 years. When she began taking pottery classes in 2020, she absolutely fell in love with the process of throwing on the wheel. Ray primarily creates functional pottery, and finds happiness in bright, colorful designs.

She encourages you to bring your patience, willingness to practice,

and creativity to class, and hopes to see you soon!

Kye graduated from Herron School of Art & Design in 2023 with a focus in ceramics & sculpture. Kye has a lovely at home studio for ceramics and is currently teaching one night classes & private events at Yellow Door, along with working with street outreach at the Damien Center and making public art sculptures at 900 North Studios.

Kye loves repetition art and the obscure, inspired primarily by queer rights and nature within their own work. Kye uses wheel throwing as a base to create sculptural and textured pieces, and they love to hand build. While new within the teaching profession, Kye is motivated and excited to help other creatives learn technique & will always welcome you into their class with a smile. 

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​Moony (they/them) is a ceramic artist with a passion for crochet and sculpture on the side. They went to the Herron School of Art and Design and got their BFA in ceramics in May 2021. Since then Moony has been working on being an active part of the Indy gallery scene, submitting ceramics and crochet works to local galleries such as Storage Space and Hoypolloy. Moony’s current work is focused on their expression of queerness and spirituality through functional wares that look like creatures. They experiment with a variety of texture and color in their work as well as charms and embellishments. ​

Alex Lewis (he/him) is a visual artist whose ceramic-focused practice explores the relationship between domestic spaces and the objects within them. Through the collection and arrangement of made and found objects he examines patterns of neglect and the environments where possessions are thrown away, forgotten, or stored. Lewis’s work questions the shifting definitions of home and the rise of fast furniture, engaging in a cyclical dialogue between ceramics and our self-designed environment.