5 Effective Ways to Connect with Your Clay Community: A Guide for Ceramic Artists

June 09, 2024 • ceramics • community • connection • pottery

Discover the best ways to connect with fellow ceramic artists and build your clay community. Whether you're a seasoned potter or a beginner, these tips will help you engage with like-minded individuals, find support, and grow your passion for ceramics. Engaging on social media, joining pottery guilds, and attending ceramic exhibitions are just a few ways to enhance your connection with the pottery community.

Finding your community is a great way to connect with like-minded people, no matter what your creative vibe! If you’re a clay person looking to find your clay people, here's a guide to start your journey.

5 Effective Ways to Connect with Your Clay Community:

Engage on Instagram. Follow, like and comment on fellow potters' or ceramicists' content. Be kind and supportive. Add to the conversation. Always give more than you take. If you are a little daring, post a poll on your Stories to start your own engagement. Never done one? Here’s a personal example. Here’s a link to a how to guide.
Join a Facebook Group: Connect with potters and ceramics artists on Clay Buddies, Pottery for Beginners and Potters with Knowledge to Share, or Ontario Clay Community. To find a group within your own creative realm follow this link.
Join a Guild: Become a general member and attend meetings to meet people and learn from presenters. If you already belong to one, join another. As you build an understanding of how the organization works, volunteer and learn from your peers. You’ll be surprised at your growth over time. If you are in Canada, use the 'make & do' Canadian Clay Directory to find clay groups in your area. Advice: Mark the meetings dates in all your calendars, so you don't miss out on this value packed membership feature.
Join a Regional Ceramic or Craft Organization: Organizations like the Fusion Ontario Clay and Glass Association or Craft Ontario offer opportunities to learn, share and engage.
Attend Ceramic Exhibitions. Join email lists for local craft galleries like the Carnegie Gallery , Gardiner Museum or The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery to stay informed about exhibition openings. If you're searching for local action, you can set your region and specific interests within Akimbo.ca.

The past few weeks have been overwhelming but in ‘just the right way’.

Bonding with Guild Members: Setting up our booth at the first Artisan Market of the season at Creative Hub 1352 at the Small Arms Inspection Building. Every two weeks different sets of potters from the Mississauga Potters' Guild will be showing and selling their wares and honing their marketing pitch, enriching the lives of new collectors.
Connecting with Artists: Attending the Opening Reception of Fusion’s Breakthrough Plus Exhibition was a great opportunity to see what gets selected in juried exhibitions and discuss concepts and techniques with the artists.
Learning at Conferences or Workshops: Fangirling at the Fusion Conference with presenters Julia Galloway and Bill van Gilder was an incredibly enriching experience.
Celebrating at the Gardiner Museum: Enjoying the Opening Reception of our Fusion Mentorship Exhibition, Perceptions in Flux brought closure to out experience in the best possible way. Any time spent with the creative and generous fellow mentees and mentor Susan Low-Beer is icing on the cake.
Organizing Events: Along with my MPG Community Spirit co-lead, we planned the next few months as guild members create bowls for an Empty Bowls Fundraiser.
Planning a Field Trip: Reliving my former life as a teacher, along with the MPG Exhibition Team, we organized a Field Trip to Black Creek Pioneer Village to get inspired for two upcoming exhibitions in partnership with this historic site, one each in 2024 and 2025. Join the Mississauga Potters’ Guild to get involved.

Here's a photo of some of the mentorship group at the artist reception (all artists listed on the glass) and my sculpture Chemin Du Roy at the Gardiner Museum. A special thank your to Adeline La (mic in hand) of the Gardiner Museum who always goes above and beyond to support artists.