A core part of Clay Art Center’s mission is to ignite passion for ceramics, and to help foster new artists in the community. Our incredible teaching artists have been furthering this mission for decades, helping students of all levels develop and hone their skills.
Keiko Ashida (she / her)
Keiko studied pottery in Mashiko, Japan and received her BFA at the Musashino Art University in Tokyo. She continued to pursue pottery through a pottery institute followed by an apprenticeship in Mashiko, a traditional pottery town in Japan, where she studied with master potters. Keiko has had numerous solo exhibits in Japan, and has been teaching at CAC since shortly after she arrived in New York with her husband.
In her classes, Keiko emphasizes the importance of using technique to ensure the functionality of an object, and guides students in applying techniques to their own designs. Keiko’s classes are highly collaborative, and rich with conversation and laughter.
Jeanne Carreau (she / her)
Jeanne majored in Japanese culture at Stanford University, then was trained as a potter’s apprentice in Japan. She received her MA from UC Berkeley in East Asian Studies, writing an MA thesis comparing the Japanese ceramics traditions of Bizen and Hagi. She has also published both translations and original articles on Japanese ceramics. She has exhibited her work in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York. During her more than 50 years as ceramics instructor, she has taught children and adults in California, Hong Kong, and New York. She currently teaches intermediate and advanced wheel courses, as well as special needs classes and private lessons for adults and children. Jeanne particularly enjoys the challenge of throwing large forms on the wheel.
Jeffrey Dean (he / him)
Jeff has been working in clay on and off for over 40 years. He has a Master’s degree in Creative Arts Therapy, with a specialty in children and adolescent creativity development. He worked in the helping professions for almost 30 years, before deciding to devote his time and energy to creative work with clay. He has taken classes at the Westchester Arts Workshop and the Clay Art Center. He has participated in numerous workshops to broaden his experience and to learn new techniques. He is currently a member of Hudson River Potters, and has participated in shows and sales with them, as well as having an on-line presence. Jeff believes that functional ceramics should also reflect the personality of the potter. His works are often full of whimsy and humor. Ask him about his footed bowl series! He wants to elicit the joy of working with clay in his students. Jeff teaches Tween and Teen wheel classes, and he has been the teacher for numerous child and adult parties.
Helayne Friedland (she / her)
Helayne Friedland is a ceramic artist, printmaker, graphic designer, and native New Yorker. She earned her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Helayne has been working with clay for over 30 years, exhibiting her work at both craft shows, and galleries. She has participated in ceramic workshops across the country, and had the amazing opportunity to work and travel throughout China as part of an artist residency at the Sanbao Art Institute in Jingdezhen.
After a long career as a graphic designer, Helayne is currently working as a teaching artist. She enjoys teaching ceramics and visual arts to artists ages 3–12, and watching her students grow as they explore (and learn to trust) their own creativity.
In her own studio, she works with both functional and decorative ceramic forms and incorporates printmaking techniques into her ceramic work.
Mara Gross (she / her)
Mara Gross, has been working with clay for over 30 years. While initially drawn to low-fire clay and majolica, largely for sculptural work, Mara now builds with mid-range clay and uses underglazes for functional ware. Mara Gross is a Clay Art Center artist and Shop artist who states, “My art reflects my interest in how we experience images, patterns, and color. I am interested in so-called “primitive” representations of the human experience and how they are filtered through our modern and complex consciousness. Our awareness of the complexities inherent in these representations are, for me, deeply linked to our day-to-day experiences. As we know, images, patterns and color evoke emotions, and we are always in our emotions.”
Robin Henschel (she / her)
My clay odyssey commenced with an imaginary animal assignment in the seventh grade where I realized that I could give form to my fantastical imaginings. Mythical beasts as well as their more prosaic fellows (warthogs, rabbits, musk oxen, etc) have continued to take shape in my studio henceforth. I am continually inspired by ancient myths and medieval manuscript marginalia with their expansive ideas of reality and by a reciprocal idea of anthropomorphism. We are animals and they are us. Functionality is also a goal of my work as I feel that physical interaction with a piece adds to a continuing and expanding appreciation.
Robin holds a BFA from Mass. College of Art and Design, and was a founding member of the Feet of Clay Pottery in Brookline, MA.
Carley Holzem (she / her)
2024-2025 Rittenberg Artist-in-Residence
Carley grew up in a small rural town in central Wisconsin called Mosinee. In high school, she began to love all types of art and grew a passion for pottery. She then went on to get her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin Stout with a BFA in ceramics. After graduating she went to Minneapolis for the year-long Fogelberg residency at Northern Clay Center.
“The construction of my functional porcelain body of work is thrown and altered with various attachments. I dramatize spouts, handles, and feet to enhance the dynamics and gestures of each form. The complexity of nature and living organisms is what drives me to include contrasting sections and textures. I look at colors from poisonous animals and plants because they are deadly yet beautiful. I find that this dichotomy relates to the experience of standing out as a queer feminine person and having to protect oneself. My pottery is initially read as feminine but the faceted surface underneath the shiny glaze highlights the rough and sharp qualities of the natural material of clay. The objects I choose to make are simple within their function but command attention through their delicate yet awkward aesthetic. My work is meant to feel youthful and vibrant with a bit of fantasy.”
Reena Kashyap (she / her)
Reena had a corporate career before she entered the field of ceramics. She studied ceramics with Judith Weber of New Rochelle before setting up her own studio in 1989, making functional porcelain and stoneware pottery. Attending Penland School of Crafts for summer workshops ignited her lifelong love for clay. As the Director Emeritus of Clay Art Center, Reena has strived to juggle her time between making pots and at same time, nurturing the programs and people who walk through CAC’s doors. She has exhibited her work at craft shows and galleries all over the US. She loves teaching and watching her students grow artistically.
Jamie Lee (she / her)
Jamie Lee is a Clay Art Center artist who works both on the wheel and in handbulding in both Cone 10 and 6 clays. She states, “Clay is a medium for me to create a space; a space for food; a space for flowers; a space for your minds to linger. Over two decades ago, on my way to a drawing class I stumbled upon a clay studio. From that moment, my hands never left clay. Drawings? Oh, forget about it!”
Evelyn Mtika (she / her)
Artist-in-Residence
Evelyn Mtika has been working with clay for just shy of 3 years. Her work includes portraiture, figures, text, and is focused on exploring intertwined cultural connections and differences. She is interested in exploring how black femininity and culture is interwoven through hair, faces, and patterns. She pulls her inspiration from different aspects of her own background, having grown up within and between a Black and African diasporic household. She received her BFA from University of Hartford with a focus in ceramics and painting.
“My body of work is related to my understanding of how I navigate the world, holding myself to the close connections I make with my family and friends, and defining my experience of living within the Black and African diaspora and as a Woman. Through my work, I contemplate the nature of growing into my identity as well as the struggle of perceiving myself outside of internalized and negative stereotypes. My pottery is dedicated to pairing ornamental and painterly decorativeness with intense and powerful portraiture. I believe that the portraiture in my pieces, while changing in medium and style, all serve the same purpose; to remind me to always elevate the culture and heritage I grew up around and to respect the body I grew into.”
Jess Palmer (she / her)
Jess Palmer’s work explores the intersection of design, art, and fine craft through functional wheel-thrown pots. Her former career as a Creative Director has greatly influenced her approach to clay. Using delicate details and pattern work, Jess seeks to elevate everyday pots from ordinary to exquisite. Her influences include Art Deco architecture, botanicals and nature, and historical and graphic patterns. She uses elements of design such as geometry, line, pattern, repetition, and color throughout her work striving to find a balance between form and decoration.
Jess holds a BFA in Communication Design from SUNY at Buffalo. Her work has been published in Pottery Making Illustrated and Ceramics Monthly. She has exhibited in both juried and national invitational shows at some of the countries’ leading ceramic art galleries. In addition to private lessons and workshops, Jess enjoys teaching ceramic jewelry and wheel throwing classes. Jess lives in Port Chester, NY with her husband Pete and has a private studio at Clay Art Center.
Stephanie Perez (she / her)
Westchester Community Foundation Fellow
Stephanie Perez (Westchester Community Fellow) is an emerging ceramic artist and instructor with a BS in psychology and sociology from Fordham University. Drawing inspiration from her academic background, her artwork challenges established notions and invites contemplation about the interplay between familiarity and humanity.
While Stephanie's sculptures often portray exaggerated features and proportions, they never lose their profound humanistic essence. Through manipulation of facial expressions, sometimes even through the absence of a face, she evokes a wide range of emotions in her artwork. Stephanie's exploration extends to various glazing and finishing techniques, enabling her pieces to transcend boundaries, pushing the likeness to the human form. Stephanie strives to further push these boundaries of physical likeness, all while maintaining a strong sense of relatability to the human experience.
This fellowship was made possible by the Westchester Community Foundation, a division of The New York Community Trust. Westchester Community Foundation’s mission is to connect generous people to the causes they care about and invest in transformative ideas and organizations to improve lives and strengthen our community. WCF is a division of The New York Community Trust, one of the largest community foundations in the country, with assets of approximately $3 billion.
Christine Rapoas (she / her)
2024-2025 Artist-in-Residence
Christine grew up surrounded by many types of art, but developed a deep love for ceramics in college, where she graduated from Alfred University with a BFA. She also studied painting, drawing, and art history in study abroad programs in Paris and Florence. After graduating, Christine completed a Post Baccalaureate program at Kansas State University.
“My work attempts to tackle the impossible motion of flame, the fragile temperament of the ocean, and the all-consuming yet gentle touch of the wind. Clay, both flexible and forgiving, grants me the freedom to chase physical aspects of each element, or at least the shapes they take in my mind.
But more than that, my sculptures showcase a certain harmony between clay and glaze, because each sculpture ultimately becomes more than the sum of its parts. Clay is the sturdy foundation that all else depends upon, but glaze truly makes my work sing.
I try to capture the colors, textures, and motion of this life, so that, even through a motionless sculpture, I can bring viewers to a world they’ve never occupied.“
Don Reynolds (he / him)
Originally from Michigan, Don was introduced to ceramics in high school. He graduated from the University of Michigan, School of Art in 1982, where he studied Ceramics. Upon graduation, Don spent a year in Southern California where he worked for various local potteries including Ron Rogers Pottery and Vee Jackson Pottery. He became a Resident Artist on-board the Artrain, an art museum and working studio housed in five train cars that traveled across the country bringing an interactive art experience to underserved communities. Yes, he rocked an awesome asymmetrical hairstyle while he still had the locks to support it! Don began to show and sell his mostly functional ceramics through national juried competitions and gallery outlets. Don lives in Bridgeport, CT, and teaches ceramics at the Clay Art Center and at Wilton High School’s Adult Education program. His ceramic work has been included in many exhibitions throughout the United States.
Eileen Sackman (she / her)
Eileen Sackman is a ceramic artist who currently lives in New York's Hudson Valley. Eileen has been working in clay and firing wood kilns for the past 20 years. For nearly a decade she has been a member of Jack Troy’s wood fire team. She has exhibited in national group and solo shows and her work is in private collections across America. Eileen most recently exhibited with the Charlie Cummings Gallery, Baltimore Clayworks Gallery, and the American Crafts Council.
Eileen received her MFA in Ceramics from the State University of New Paltz in 2010 and prior to receiving her MFA, she studied Sculpture and Ceramics at Adelphi University and was awarded a MA in Studio Art in 2008.
Maria Spiess (she / her)
Maria Spiess was the Rittenberg Artist-in-Residence at Clay Art Center, in Port Chester, NY from 2020-2022. Maria grew up in Bowling Green, Ohio, where she also began her pursuit of ceramic arts studies at BGSU. She earned her MFA from Syracuse University in 2017 and has completed residencies at Lux Center for the Arts (Lincoln, NE), Woodstock Byrdcliffe Arts Colony (Woodstock, NY), Taos Clay Studio (Taos, NM), Golden Bridge Pottery (Pondicherry, India), and Chautauqua Institution (Chautauqua, NY).
Jon Townley (he / him)
Jon Townley began throwing pots in high school and received his BFA in Ceramics from Ohio State University. He went on to establish a professional studio practice as a functional potter and sculptor, and began teaching workshops and classes in both hand building and throwing. Jon also worked for years as a professional designer, which informs his approach to guiding students in their quest to develop a strong design sense and their own creative voice. Jon’s work has evolved toward functional and sculptural forms that reference nature and reflect his enduring regard for the Japanese ceramic aesthetic. Jon teaches a variety of hand building and throwing workshops, and has served as assistant instructor for Steven Hills’ Journey Workshops. At CAC, Jon currently teaches classes in Advanced Wheel Throwing and Intermediate Hand Building, and offers private lessons.
Susana Valera Read (she / her)
Susana Valera Read is a visual artist who works in painting and clay sculpture. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she moved to NY to continue her studies at Parsons School of Design where she graduated with a BFA in Illustration. She worked as an illustrator and graphic designer before dedicating herself to painting and teaching arts.
Susana discovered her love for clay in 2007 when she began taking classes at Clay Art Center. She later took ceramics and sculpture classes at Lehman College where she earned her MFA with a concentration in printmaking.
Susana has been with Clay Art Center since 2014 teaching handbuilding classes to the youth and adults in a variety of settings. She is passionate about teaching arts to children, and inspiring young minds through curiosity, imagination, and self expression. Susana lives in Westchester county where she maintains a studio at her home.
Vicky Youngman (she / her)
Vicky earned a Master of Professional Studies in Creative Arts Therapy from Pratt Institute, worked as an Art Therapist for 23 years and taught art therapy at the School of Visual Arts. Her second career as a ceramic artist has enabled her to exhibit and sell her work and continue her love of teaching. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Pace University, Pleasantville campus and a Professional Teaching Artist through ArtsWestchester. Vicky says, “My approach to creating with clay involves considerable hands on exploration, experimentation and playfulness. Much like life, it’s a journey into the unknown, one of discovery with imperfections, mishaps and wonderful surprises along the way.”