Our Team
Dylan Alvarado
Studio Coordinator (he/they)
Dylan is a potter, painter, and avid grower of things, born and raised in Oakland. Their practice encompasses many mediums, always holding the vessel at its center. Dylan received a BFA from the School of Art Institute of Chicago, where they honed their practice in ceramics. They have worked in art galleries, furniture studios, and gardens.
Besides working in the studio, Dylan also grows orchids, vegetables and everything in between. They love to hike, cook and find rare flora with friends.
Antonia Casino
Studio Tech/TEACHING ARTIST (she/her)
Antonia rediscovered her love for clay, while taking a ceramic spoon making class in San Francisco. She continually works on throwing and handbuilding simple forms which are mostly glazed in white. The bead making and jewelry came about when it was time to take a break from the wheel. It allows her to explore surface and color on a smaller scale. She is inspired by worn and distressed objects found in nature. Antonia has been a member of The Potters' Studio since 2015 and a staff member since 2018.
Ian Bassett
teaching artist (he/him)
Ian Bassett is a visual artist and potter living in the East Bay. He was born in Seoul, Korea and grew up in Connecticut on Long Island Sound. He received his BFA in Ceramics from the New Hampshire Institute of Art, a Post Baccalaureate in Ceramics from Hood College and his MFA in ceramics from Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Crafts.
He currently is a Lecturer at Sonoma State College and an Adjunct Professor at Los Medanos College. In the past he has taught at Diablo Valley College, was the Studio Technician at Art Academy University and the Ceramics Studio Manager at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residencies.
Matt Fishman
TEACHING ARTIST (he/him)
I've been a full time potter for about five years now after leaving a career working in restaurant kitchens. I enjoy both the problem solving required of working in clay and the freedom and creativity that the medium allows.
@mattfishmanpottery
Scott Jennings
TEACHING ARTIST (he/him)
Scott studied ceramics at California State University Fullerton, earning a B.F.A. in ceramics in 1996. He has worked as a ceramics lab technician and Instructor at The Irvine Fine Arts Center and Mt. San Antonio College. He has taught at Ruby’s Clay Studio, Palo Alto Art Center, Higher Fire Clayspace and Gallery, The Sonoma Community Center, Clay By The Bay in SF and The Potters’ Studio in Berkeley, CA. His work in the ceramics industry includes working as the Dinnerware Production Manager for Heath Ceramics.
“I am interested in utilitarian vessels and find that they provide endless avenues to explore form and surface design. The dialogue with the form is what motivates me to get in the studio each day and to do the work. The work informs itself and slowly evolves over time; I revisit the same forms over and over, making changes as I achieve a new level of understanding the details of a piece. When I look at a form that I’ve been making and it no longer looks as “good” as it once did I know that I’ve crossed into new territory. I strive to make pieces that are visually stunning and that have engaging tactile qualities. Ultimately I hope that the user contemplates how ceramics with unique characteristics can fit into and enhance their daily routines.”
Bill Kaplan
glaze tech (he/him)
I graduated from Immaculate Heart College with a BFA and concentration in Painting, Sculpture, Silversmithing and Photography. My clay experience started at Aardvark Clay in Santa Ana about 30 years ago with teachers Robert Ramirez and Steve Davis. They taught me that my clay will only be as centered as I am. Throwing on the wheel is meditative and peaceful for me and it gives me the chance to share my pottery passion. About 10 years ago, I started focusing on developing glazes and playing with color. I’m fascinated by the interaction and chemistry of raw materials on color and texture. I hope to inspire, educate, and assist other potters in their journey. You can find my work at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FaeryWoodStudios
Bob Johnson
TEACHING ARTIST (he/him)
Bob has been teaching and working in ceramics since, as he says, "before the invention of dirt". He received a BFA and MFA from California College of the Arts (CCA) with a major in ceramics, and later taught at Chadron State College in Nebraska, and at New Mexico State University as a member of both the graduate and undergraduate faculties. He has shown in many galleries throughout the US and his work is in various collections, such as New York State University at Buffalo, the permanent collection at CCA, and the Antonio Prieto Memorial Collection of Contemporary Ceramics at Mills College. Bob created Big River Pottery in New Mexico, selling his work throughout the US (and working as a fireman while not doing pottery). He has taught at The Potters' Studio in Berkeley and Studio One in Oakland since 1990.
Julia Pierce
studio tech (they/them)
Julia began working in clay during their time at UC Davis, where they loved making large-scale pieces, firing gas kilns, and sharing a studio in TB-9. After receiving their B.A. in Art Studio in 2020, they have been continuing to learn about their practice by attending residencies and taking classes. Julia just started learning wheel throwing, so you may catch them in a beginning class sometime soon. Their favorite part about working at The Potters' Studio is interacting with so many wonderful people and getting to learn new things every day!
Paige Valentine
Studio Tech/kiln tech (she/her)
Paige joined The Potters’ Studio team in summer 2019 as an intern. She graduated from SFAI with a BFA in Painting in 2018. It was during her studies that she discovered the freedom of creating sculptural pieces in ceramics and not being confined to a frame. Her current forms are rocks, animals and stacks of things - all sculptural while alluding to functional.
Jim Newton
TEACHING ARTIST (he/him)
Jim is a San Francisco Bay Area clay artist who works from his studio in the Berkeley Hills. He began creating forms in clay as a high school student, and continues to develop his skills, styles, and passion for this art.
Jim’s work ranges from functional pottery to sculptural objects; any of which might be pit fired, raku fired, salt or soda fired, high fired cone 10 reduction or mid range electric fired cone 6 oxidation.
In addition to producing original ceramics, James has taught ceramics classes throughout the Bay Area for over 20 years and is currently teaching at the Walnut Creek Civic Arts studio. Jim has found the interaction with students to be a stimulating and thought-provoking balance to his hours of independent, quietly intense work.
Phoebe Deutsche
Teaching artist (she/her)
Phoebe is a sculptural artist working primarily in clay. Her work explores interconnectedness of nature systems. She believes that the natural world is not only an inherent part of us as human beings (and we of it), but that it is the original, exquisitely sensitive mirror in which we find our own inner terrain and wildness reflected. Phoebe’s work has always been an act of reverence for the natural world. There is an element of science in it, in the desire to study and observe. But there is an element of spirit, too, in the continual reaching for something just beyond the visible.
Phoebe received their BFA in Fine Art from The Rochester Institute of Technology School for American Craft. She has been a resident artist at Northcote Pottery in Melbourne Australia, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, and Guttenberg Arts. When she is not making art, Phoebe loves to travel and visit wilderness land to gain inspiration for her artwork.
Lyra Dietrich
TEACHING ARTIST (she/her)
My education in clay started in 2017 at Laney College in Oakland. Today, my work is greatly inspired by form and my pots are often altered, decorated or pinched to showcase pattern and invoke a sense of play.
I love how pots are vessels of nourishment. Both by their function to hold what feeds us as well as how pots can bring pause and beauty into our daily routines. My mom and sister are both chefs and my dad is a prolific gardener. Making pots for the table is my way of contributing to our shared meals.
www.lyraceramics.com
Elani Gitterman
Studio tech (She/her)
Elani grew up in the Bay Area and has been an artist her whole life. A few years ago, Elani fell in love with ceramics and started out by taking classes at the Potter's Studio. She was drawn to the ceramic process because of the way it encourages trial and error and found it to be a unique safe space for failure. Using both hand-building and throwing techniques, she favors organic, soft forms and bright colors. She strongly believes in encouraging play and exploration through art, especially for those who have not had the privilege or space to do so. Outside of creating art, she also loves rock climbing, playing music and spending time with her cat.
Sue Levin
kiln tech (she/her)
I discovered ceramics about ten years ago. I like to say that while I found myself in clay...I was finding myself in clay. As a staff member at The Potters’ Studio this is something I especially enjoy: watching students and members explore and find their voice in clay. More about me and my work here: www.suelevinart.com
Rabi Chandra Prajapati
Pugmill Operator (he/him)
My name is Rabi and I’m a potter from Bhaktapur, Nepal. I have been a potter for 40 years and I have been at the Potters’ Studio for 4 years. I make flower pots, sugar pots, pen stands, piggy banks, oil lamps, incense and candle stands, wind chimes, animal sculptures, among other things. Everything is made on the wheel or hand-built. I also make my own tools out of clay. If you need help with anything related to making potters, I am happy to help!
Ahn Lee
TEACHING ARTIST (they/she)
Ahn Lee is a queer Cantonese artist and researcher. Their interdisciplinary practice of ceramics, research and performance relies on a combined methodology of autobiographical re-making and research on the Cantonese Diaspora. Ahn is a ceramic hand builder, and avid learner of glaze chemistry and firing techniques. She has taught at the University-level for 4 years, and also teaches handbuilding at Dusted and Blue in San Francisco, where she is also studio assistant manager.
Ahn received their MFA in May 2022 from UC Berkeley’s Art Practice Department, where they were the 2021 Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy Awardee. Ahn previously studied in UCLA’s Gender Studies Department as a Eugene V. Cota Robles PhD Fellow before leaving the program to pursue art full-time. Since 2022, Ahn has held residencies at Headlands Center for the Arts, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Real Space and Time, and Anderson Ranch Arts Center. When she is not making art, Ahn loves spending time with her family and cat, Totoro.
Tali Reicher
Director of Finance + Administration (she/her)
Tali joins The Potters' Studio as its first-ever Director of Finance & Administration. With a dynamic career that spans diverse sectors, she has cultivated expertise in financial strategies, operational efficiencies, and strategic planning. Holding a BA in Economics from UC, Berkeley, and an MA in Education from Mills College, her skills and educational foundation have been pivotal in bringing about transformative changes across the organizations with which she’s worked. Tali's leadership goes beyond numbers; she is committed to fostering a community where art and finance exist in harmony. She is eager to contribute to the Studio's growth, ensuring it remains a thriving haven for artists and creators alike.
Siegfried Oyales
STUDIO tech/kiln tech/TEACHING ARTIST (HE/HIM)
Greetings, I’m Siegfried! I am a maker who enjoys the playfulness and serendipity of ceramics and appreciates the meandering nature of clay. I believe in practicing compassion, pliability, mellowness, staying curious, and being unhurried. Also, I often sing songs in my head which will subconsciously make me dance, feel free to join!
Daniel Clausen
TEACHING ARTIST (THEY/THEM)
Daniel is a Queer and Trans Artist focusing mostly in ceramics. Through ceramics they create bodily forms that resist the limitations of biological and systematic structure, and reach towards an empathetic, critical, and political Figurative form. Dan utilizes their past experiences of gender dysphoria, relationships, and ‘home’ to influence their work. Connecting contradicting ideas of love and pain, trauma and acceptance, intimacy and ambiguity. They grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where the coastal and mountainous erosion qualities have influenced the textures and surfacing techniques in their work.
Bobbi Fabian
Executive Director (she/her)
Bobbi rediscovered her love of clay in 2014 and vowed then that it would always be a part of her life. More recently, she experimented with desert clay while living in the world’s hottest climate for 5 years. Originally from Australia, Bobbi has lived in the US for over 20 years. She has been a freelance photographer, a teacher, run a photo department and been general manager of a small, remote town in the Mojave Desert. She joined The Potters’ Studio team in early 2021 as Executive Director.
Josie Rovegno
TEACHING ARTIST (she/her)
I found The Potters’ Studio on my quest to learn how to fire and have access to gas kilns. I started as an intern in 2018. I fell in love with the firing process and everything having to do with kilns. This ignited my passion for soda firing and other atmospheric firing methods. I make a variety of functional soda fired wares including my version of a travel mug, ‘ The Lug Mug’. I like to find things to wedge into the clay body, most of it is rust I forage from our beloved kilns.
Sante Salvoni
OPERATIONS MANAGER/ TEACHING ARTIST (he/him)
Sante is originally from Cape Cod, MA and has made the Bay Area his home since 1995. As a potter and chef, he creates sturdy functional tableware designed for daily use. Lately, he’s been inspired to combine both wheel thrown and handbuilt techniques, and strives to create forms that invite you to pick them up in your hands. As a potter that comes to ceramics as a second career, Sante believes his experience cooking in restaurant kitchens informs all the artistic choices he makes today. Having returned from a long hiatus at ceramics in 2015, Sante has been a student, then member, and is currently an instructor at The Potters' Studio. Joining the staff in 2021, Sante brings the experience of all phases of participation at the studio and is a firm believer in the concept of community, not competition.
@santesalvoni
https://www.santitoscocina.com