Instructors
Jamie found clay in 2014 and hasn’t been able to get out of the mud since! She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics from Missouri State University. Her work was previously exhibited internationally at the MenLo Gallery in Jingdezhen, China. Working mostly in clay, she draws inspiration from her family and her beloved chicken family members. Jamie takes nostalgic memories and makes them permanent in clay. Past students have described Jamie as very friendly instructor and "she offered options and alternatives to help figure out their own style".
Jonah's clay experience started in high school and quickly grew to be his primary passion. While studying film at UC Santa Cruz, he was one of the managers of the Merrill Pottery Cooperative for three consecutive years. Despite never formally studying ceramics, he honed in his craft of wheel throwing by learning from the community of ceramic artists around him. After graduating in 2019, he taught classes in Los Angeles for a year before relocating to the bay area in the fall. Both his teaching and practice are constantly evolving, as he feels there is much to learn before settling on a style.
Noelle Foden-Vencil
Noelle is from Portland, Oregon. She studied textiles, painting, and ceramics at school, and fell in love with the ceramic process after graduating and working in art studios around San Francisco. She worked as a production assistant and then manager for a local Bay Area artist Mary Mar Keenan for four years before moving onto Clayroom to teach and assist in the tech work around the studio. Since moving to the city, her work has taken on a more sculptural quality, as she has dabbled in making plaster molds and slip casting her work. Right now, she enjoys using sgraffito as a surface design technique, and she has been moving toward starting mixed-media projects in her future work.
Rigo is from Mexico and grew up moving all over the US, they have been hand building for 9 years. They earned their Associates Art History degree from East Los Angeles College and fell in love with ceramics after excelling in their first hand building class. In 2018 they graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor's in Art History. During their schooling they practiced and refined their skills in hand building while fully immersed in art. To them ceramics was and still is a healing practice, a way to connect with the earth, themselves and others. Their work tends to focus on identity, sexuality, and movement. They currently teach workshops at Artillery AG in The Mission and Clayroom.
Chiara Reagan
San Francisco native Chiara, has always loved dirt. She spent a good amount of time playing in mud puddles, inside and outside of the classroom, before attending the San Francisco Art Institute. There she continued to get her hands dirty, broadening her horizons to various other materials, and was awarded her BFA in sculpture. Now coming back to her muddy roots, she predominantly teaches wheel throwing classes, using her 10+ years of experience to walk her students through the technical aspects of making. She strives to cultivate a fun yet still thoughtful and instructive classroom where students can challenge themselves to find their creative voice through clay — or simply find a space for peace in a constantly moving world.
Margaret Wilson
​Margaret is originally from Tennessee and started working with clay in high school. She grew up loving gardening and working with nature and people. She studied Psychology, Ceramics, and Art Therapy at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, and worked as a studio assistant at La Meridiana International Ceramics School in Tuscany during her Junior year of college. After graduating in 2020, she spent two years teaching pottery and farming to 7th through 12th graders at a boarding school in Tennessee. Margaret fell in love with California when she apprenticed with a slip casting artist in Sonoma, and decided to make the move out West. She loves learning all kinds of ways to work with clay, but mostly enjoys making functional work on the wheel.
Jake has been teaching furniture building at the Clayroom since January 2022, and has been Head of Woodworking since July of the same year. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2015 with a degree in Computer Science and Architecture focusing on fine woodworking. He escaped his software job in Boston in 2021. Please help keep him out of big tech's hands and sign up for a class today.
Instagram: @jk.of.all.trades
Email: jake@clayroomsf.com
Barbara Vanderbeck is a San Francisco based artist who remembers being smitten with clay from a very early age. Barbara received her MA in Ceramics from Northern Arizona University and has extensive experience teaching all levels in various institutions. Passionate about the creative process, she delights in sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with others.
Neil Gershgorn
Neil's teaching style blends excitement, energy, and mindfulness to help students understand the foundational principles of ceramics and woodworking. His passion is to conquer the initial hurdles and fears and help students feel successful in the studio. Personal attention, catered techniques to help the individual succeed, and having fun with clay is his signature style.
Kelsey Segasser
Kelsey grew up in Michigan and has been working with clay since high school. She received her BFA from the University of Michigan in ceramics and sculpture and has worked with various materials such as clay, metal, wood, marble, and plaster. She has found a passion for mold making and slip casting and encourages her students to experiment with unique non-ceramic forms and slip design techniques. She strives to push the envelope with her class offerings and incorporate projects that combine various skills and materials.
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Chris was born in Connecticut and moved to San Francisco in 2015 to work as a restaurant chef. After walking by the Clayroom window display, Chris decided to take an Intro to Clay Class, and the rest is history! He was immediately hooked onto the idea of Pottery not necessarily as an art form, but as a Craft. His work centers around the pottery wheel, with a focus on functional pieces to be used in the kitchen and home. Chris is passionate about sharing his knowledge and excitement for clay with new students and gets satisfaction from helping them find methods and techniques that work best for them. When not teaching new students, you can find Chris practicing his teapots!
Originally from Maryland, Ryan has worked in the world of professional ceramics for over a decade, both in production and education. He has recently taught at Clay By the Bay and The Clay Underground, and has helped to found Clayroom.
Past students have described his teaching style as "very thorough, very patient and extremely nice. The class is very relaxed and there is no pressure to come out with a masterpiece."
Ryan holds a B.F.A. in Ceramics and Printmaking from Frostburg State University.
Annika Guadiana
Annika has always loved the arts from a young age. She was born and raised in Fresno, CA. Annika first found her passion for all things clay at the City College of San Francisco. When filling a general education requirement she decided to take Intro to Ceramics and after her first pinch pot she knew she found her passion. Seven years later it never would have crossed her mind that she would be managing a small studio to then running that studio herself. Annika has an extreme passion for teaching and sharing her love for ceramics and the community that comes along with it. Annika’s style is forever changing depending on what is inspiring her at that time. She thoroughly enjoys wheel throwing and adding handbuilt elements to her pieces. At this moment in time, she is diving into the colorful world of Nerikomi. Annika is extremely excited for her new journey at Clayroom and as Annika always says Live Laugh Love.
Miki is a functional small batch ceramic artist and best known for her ceramic tea ware. She moved from Chicago 10 years ago and has been teaching and showing her work through various exhibitions and galleries throughout the Bay Area and China. Her teaching style incorporates not only wheel skills but best practices to posture and studio practices.
“Let’s make some beautiful pots!”
Susan Gold
Susan Gold began hand building with clay in her mother's studio at the age of three. For the last 25 years she has been working on the wheel exclusively, creating both functional and decorative pieces. Since 2006 she has taught pottery classes to children and adults at Sharon Art Studio and beginning in 2018 at Clayroom. Her interest has taken her to pottery centers in Japan, China, North Carolina, New Mexico and Montana, exposing her to a wide range of techniques and styles which she incorporates into her teaching and her own work. She exhibits her at San Francisco Women Artists Gallery and Dogpatch Potters.
Paul Mayencourt
Paul finds his way into woodworking through his academic research in timber construction. He is passionate about the interaction between material constraints, structural design and the art of making in furniture design. Paul did phd at MIT and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Carbon Removal Lab at Berkeley Forests (UCB).
Jason Catiis
Jason is a UX Designer by day, but passion for making things led him to woodworking and furniture design. He draws inspiration from Scandinavian and Japanese furniture design and woodworking techniques and enjoy wood turning to relax when furniture projects get too complicated.
Katie Kilanowski
Katie Kilanowski is a professional woodworker from New York. Katie discovered her love for woodworking while earning her BFA in Fine Arts. She continued her studies through workshops at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship (ME), the Center for Art in Wood (PA), and numerous apprenticeships at SUNY Purchase (NY). Before leaving New York, she gained experience as an architectural millworker at Zepsa Studios where she was introduced to fine cabinetry. She currently works as a furniture maker at GO Build Studio in San Francisco
Justin is a San Francisco-based designer and furniture maker. He grew up in West Virginia, helping build fences, structures, and homes on the family farm. These formative acts of making blossomed into an obsession with fine furniture woodworking under the mentorship of Elijah Leed in 2012. Justin's work focuses on unexpected forms grounded in a modern Nordic vernacular. In addition to teaching at Clayroom, Justin serves on the core committee of The Chairmaker's Toolbox—an organization seeking to remove systemic barriers to education and community for underrepresented craftspeople. He currently works in tech as a design lead and manager and spends his nights and weekends making useful things at Hunt Projects in Bayview or his little home studio in The Castro.
Email: hi@onend.studio
Christopher Parris
Born into a family of artists, Christopher was placed into to the arts at a very early age. Growing up on
Cape Cod with its high concentration of potters, there were many opportunities for learning about clay. Chris' training includes a degree in Mechanical Engineering, studies at Kansas City Art Institute and
Pendland School of Craft. Apprenticeships and employment include Dimitri Hadzi, Castle Hill Center
for the Arts, and Parris Works Pottery. The rich history of ceramics and the decorative arts as well as
Cape Cod's beaches, ocean, and sea life, continue to strongly influence his art work.
Loraine Koury
Working with clay is a meditation for me - a place I can be still inside and let whatever comes out pour into the piece I’m making. The idea of building a vessel or object whether it comes from form or function, or both is what challenges me. Clay has taught me patience (which I needed desperately!) and the ability to let go of the outcome.
Having the opportunity to teach others and pass on my passion for what clay gives me has been a joy and I look forward to continuing this practice!
Christopher Parris
Loraine Koury
Working with clay is a meditation for me - a place I can be still inside and let whatever comes out pour into the piece I’m making. The idea of building a vessel or object whether it comes from form or function, or both is what challenges me. Clay has taught me patience (which I needed desperately!) and the ability to let go of the outcome.
Having the opportunity to teach others and pass on my passion for what clay gives me has been a joy and I look forward to continuing this practice!
Mayetta was born and raised in the Bay Area. She has been creating whimsical ceramic pieces for over 15 years. She has taught wheel throwing and handbuilding for the past few years in Philadelphia at The Clay Studio, Black Hound Clay Studio, and Fleisher Art Memorial. Additionally, she has assisted in ceramics workshops at craft schools such as Penland and Arrowmont. Mayetta's playful work seeks to serve the inner child in everyone.