Mt. Washington Teachers:

Ronni Aronin is a founding member of Baltimore Clayworks and current resident artist. She has been creating production porcelain since completing graduate level courses at Towson University in 1980. Her utilitarian porcelain work is adorned by vigorous and brightly colored brushwork. Over a career spanning nearly three decades, Ronni has made her living selling her work nationally through a variety of competitive wholesale and retail craft fairs.

Mary Cloonan is a Clayworks resident artist and sculptor. She holds her MFA from Syracuse University and her BS Fine Arts from Nazareth College. She is the ceramics professor at American University in Washington, DC and teaches after school programming at Park School, Brooklandville, MD. Mary has recently completed an artistin- residence program at Tainan National University for the Arts in Tainan, Taiwan ROC.

Jim Dugan is a resident artist of Baltimore Clayworks where he also manages all resident artists in addition to working as the wood kiln manager since the summer of 2005. He has been working with clay since 1995 where he attended California University of PA. Since that time he has spent 4 years as the studio manager at Touchstone Center for Crafts and 5 years as the kiln technician at Vermont Clay Studio. Since his arrival at Clayworks Jim has taught a variety of classes and introduced scores of students to the communal fun and magic of firing a 2-chamber noborigama style wood and salt kiln.

Peggy Fowler is one of the newest members of the Clayworks community, becoming a resident artist in the fall of 2007. Her small scale sculptural vessels are inspired by her observations of nature found in the Maryland landscape, her garden and the local farmer’s market. Her work has been featured in regional and national exhibitions and she recently received a purchase award in the 2008 International Orton Cone Box Show hosted by Baker University in Baldwin, KS.

Yoshitaka Fujii is the 2008–09 Lormina Salter Fellow and the most recent artist-resident at Clayworks as well as the city of Baltimore. Yoshi received his BFA from University of Southern Mississippi in 2002 and his MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2008. His interest is in wheel-thrown porcelain utilitarian and sculptural work. His current work and additional information is available at: www.yoshifujii.com

Courtney Gover is a certified Spanish teacher, tutor, and professional on-line rater for the Educational Testing Service, who has been making functional pottery on the wheel for the last four years. She has studied Ceramics at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, The Potter's Guild of Baltimore, and Baltimore Clayworks. Currently, she works from home on her potter's wheel, creating serving dishes, cups, and teapots, while raising her 11 month old son, Darbey.

Sarah House completed her BFA in Ceramics from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in 2006. She was awarded the Windgate Fellowship for emerging artists and traveled to Hungary where she became an Artist in Residence at the International Ceramics Studio. Sarah has exhibited her work in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Hungary. She currently teaches at both Baltimore Clayworks and The Community College of Baltimore County.

Matt Hyleck is a resident artist of Baltimore Clayworks. His outstanding pots earned him a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship award in Craft both in 2005 and 2007. Galleries throughout the mid-Atlantic have exhibited his sophisticated shino-glazed utilitarian stoneware and porcelain. Matt serves as the education coordinator for all onsite programs. He completed an artist-residency at Tainan National University for the Arts in Tainan, Taiwan ROC in the summer of 2005. His recent work may be seen at www.matthewhyleck.com

Heather Johnson has been a teacher at Baltimore Clayworks since 1998. She is an accomplished studio artist and her pottery career began more than 12 years ago as a student here at Clayworks. She holds a BS in Art Education from Miami University with a concentration in Ceramics, and a Masters Degree in Publication Design from University of Baltimore. Her true joy in the studio is introducing students to the processes of clay, and helping them find their niche. When not working in clay, she spends her time teaching K-5 Art in the public schools, training for triathlons, and raising her two young boys.

Joann Kandel has been a resident artist and teacher at Baltimore Clayworks since 1998. Her whimsical porcelain tableware illustrates a variety of bird, amphibian, and insect life. She is an accomplished studio artist and her pottery career began more than 12 years ago as a student here at Clayworks. Her true joys in the studio are in the complexities found in the glaze application and in working with students new to clay.

Trisha Kyner has a B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the University of Montana-Missoula. She has recently moved to Baltimore from the San Francisco Bay Area where she taught both ceramics and sculpture. Her ceramic figures have been shown at Grounds For Sculpture in New Jersey and at the California Clay Conference in Davis, Calif. She is also co-founder of the public sculpture collaborative “Grendel’s Mother.”

Sonya Meeker has been a resident artist for over eight years with Baltimore Clayworks. She began her clay career as a student at Baltimore Clayworks in 1996. Over the years she has pushed and refined her delicate stoneware and porcelain while continuing to explore and expand her glaze vocabulary. Sonya spends her days working as a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University while working in her studio late in to the night.

Faye Menis earned a B.F.A. from Alfred University in 2000. She recently taught at Catonsville Community College where she has been the ceramic technician since 2006. Faye has over six years of teaching experience from Vermont Clay Studio, Shelburne Craft School, and Studio 250. She was a resident artist at Anderson Ranch in 2001. Faye is a fabulous studio potter who has recently begun the life-long quest of motherhood, and she is excited to get her hands dirty again.

Amanda Pellerin is a resident artist of Baltimore Clayworks, where she creates her sculpture and handbuilt functional works. She is a teacher at Clayworks, Maryland Hall, and other venues, where her mosaic classes and workshops have produced wonderful student work. Amanda received a B.F.A. from Maine College of Art and an M.F.A. in Studio Ceramics from Towson University.

Volker Schoenfliess is one of the founding member artists of Baltimore Clayworks and a graduate of Towson University. In addition to being an instructor with Clayworks for 27 years, Volker is an instructor at the Baltimore School for the Arts and the Jewish Community Center at Owings Mills. His narrative and figurative ceramic work illustrates a wry sense of humor and whimsical take on human nature.

Gary Slavinsky holds a BFA from Alfred University in New York and an MFA from MICA in Baltimore. Gary has been a teacher at Clayworks since fall 2007 and continues to explore and refine his wheel thrown and hand built ceramic expressions. His teaching experience ranges from instructing college level ceramics foundations to working with pre-school students. He is currently working for Union Memorial Hospital leading online marketing efforts. You may review Gary's work by visiting www.garyslavinsky.com

Collette Smith is a resident artist of Baltimore Clayworks who entered into a studio career after spending two years in Cali, Colombia, as a Peace Corps volunteer. She has taught and exhibited her sumptuously glazed functional pots at Baltimore Clayworks; Silvermine Guild of Artists in New Canaan, Conn.; Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences in Loveladies, N.J.; and at the Clay Art Center, Port Chester, N.Y.

Pamela Theis became a resident artist at Baltimore Clayworks in the fall of 2007. She earned an M.F.A. from San Diego State University and a B.F.A. from the University of Florida. In her work, she combines elements found in nature, such as plant and sea life, to create utilitarian sculpture. Pamela has found that daily use of these sculptures can strengthen the bonds of a community. Her work may be seen at www.pamelatheis.com

Joe Vitek started with Baltimore Clayworks in 1987 and was a resident until 1995. Joe worked as a hospital corpsman, medical illustration tech, and a production medical artist. In 1964 he started working with clay while at the Corcoran. He studied in Tamba, Japan and has been a functional potter ever since.

Sam Wallace is a traditional Jamaican potter who became a resident artist and kiln technician for Baltimore Clayworks in 1993. His work has been featured in numerous regional and national exhibitions. He was a featured demonstrator for the 1995 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference. Sam continues to teach and exhibit his work primarily through a wide range of artist residencies throughout Baltimore City, surrounding counties, and the neighboring mid-Atlantic region, including New Hampshire, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Lars Westby is a resident artist of Baltimore Clayworks whose earthenware sculpture has been exhibited in prestigious galleries in the Baltimore area and across the U.S. and Taiwan. Lars was a recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship award in Craft both in 2005 and 2007. In spring 2007, he completed a four month artist-residency at Tainan National University for the Arts in Tainan, Taiwan ROC.

Dina Weston-Snead completed her MFA at Syracuse University in 2007 and she holds a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art and design. She has taught as an adjunct instructor at Syracuse University, Towson University and Goucher College. Her figurative ceramic works confront the vulnerabilities of human interaction and relationships. Interested in social disparities and cultural differences, she places her figures into situations that call illicit a response within the viewer.