From screens to clay, a quieter revolution is taking shape. Neighborhood ceramics studios are on the rise as Bay Area residents swap screen time for hands-on connection - finding calm, challenge, and community in the process.
The Bay Area is experiencing a ceramics renaissance, with the number of pottery studios in San Francisco growing significantly over the past decade. "In 2012, there were only a handful of pottery studios in San Francisco; there's around 26 at this point," said Steve Allen, owner of SMAart Gallery & Studio.
The rise in popularity is fueled by several factors. Many people rediscovered creative hobbies during the pandemic, and now others are seeking activities that offer a break from constant screen time."A lot of my students are people who work in tech or in finance and they're just really disconnected from the world. It's unclear what is real and then they come in and they start working with clay and it's very grounding," said Katie Petro, co-owner of KnK Contemporary, an art gallery in the Tenderloin. Allen, who began his career as a machinist, said he was drawn to pottery for its tactile and creative possibilities. "I do like the touch of clay, the way the clay responds to every touch and the way that you can turn it into any shape or thing that you want," he said. He now owns several ceramics studios in San Francisco that offer classes. During the pandemic, Allen's 24th Street studio became a refuge for doctors and nurses from San Francisco General Hospital. "Oftentimes they would start working on the wheel and their eyes would leak, they were getting all of this pain and trauma that they had gone through out working with clay," Petro said, recalling her time teaching there.Petro has since partnered with Allen to open KnK Contemporary in the front section of Allen's Sutter Street ceramics studio. "What we are trying to accomplish here is integrating ceramics into the fine arts and what better way to do it than to do a big show?" she said. California's connection to ceramics runs deep. In the 1950s, artists moved to the state to build large studios and create massive abstract sculptures, helping establish the Bay Area as a hub for the art form.TIMELINE: Bay Area rain, Sierra snow arrive next week with cold storms
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