District Clay opening DC’s first Ceramic Center and Gallery on Saturday, November 19th

2414 Douglas Avenue, NE courtesy of District Clay

Following word of “the district’s first get-married-anytime, secular wedding ‘chapel’”…

From a press release:

“The District Clay Center will open Washington’s first Ceramic Center and Gallery on Saturday, November 19 as it expands its space from 2,000 to 6,400 square feet at Off the Beaten Track Warehouse near Brookland in northeast Washington DC.

The NEW! District Clay Center will also include a 500 square foot ceramic Gallery, room for workshops and receptions, an associate artist program and studio artist program, including private artist studio space, the most comprehensive offering of ceramic equipment in the region, a guest resident artist program for young emerging artists and a master artist workshop program.

District Clay has also launched a non-profit arm to support its new Community Clay! Program. This program will offer free ceramic classes to underserved youth and free teacher training to public and charter school teachers. This arm, called the District Clay Educational Fund, will also support our guest resident artist program and cultural and educational outreach regarding the ceramic arts and crafts.

Cass Johnson, Executive Director of the new Center, said “It is long past time that our nation’s capital had a comprehensive center devoted to the ceramic arts. The New York Times has called ceramics today’s ‘white hot’ craft and we see increased interested in this wonderful medium only increasing.”

On November 1, new DCC launched an Indiegogo Campaign to help fund the new Center.

On Saturday evening, November 19, the DCC will have a Grand Opening Party and an inaugural Gallery Exhibition titled ‘Homegrown Talent’. Thirty-three ceramic artists from Maryland, Virginia and the District will be featured and will show figurative, sculptural and functional ware. The DCC Gallery will be holding regular exhibitions on an ongoing basis.

The District Clay Center and the DCC Gallery both represent “firsts” for Washington DC. While other large metropolitan areas, including Baltimore and Philadelphia, have large clay centers, the District has never had a comprehensive facility which has something for everyone in the community. This ranges from underserved kids, community hobbyists, artists seeking to become professional artists, young emerging ceramic artists and collectors.”