The CB Clay Studio centers an artistic community
By Katherine Nettles / photo by Robby Lloy
he Crested Butte Clay Studio is nestled in an alley between Belleview and Whiterock Avenues, a bright spot in the town’s industrial district that is increasingly appealing to other creative endeavors as well. The studio bustles with classes several mornings and evenings each week, and hums with local artists working on their forms almost any time of day. Owner Luisa Naughton, a ceramicist herself, keeps a full schedule of wheel throwing and hand building classes each season in addition to specialty workshops. In the five years since it opened, the clay studio has become a community hub nurturing friendships as much as passion for a down-to-earth art form.
Naughton founded the studio in 2021, and her artist’s eye shines through in the space’s clean, modern design elements while her expertise as a professional ceramicist and studio operator shows in carefully curated supplies and organized workspaces.
Luisa had toyed with the idea of opening a clay studio in town early on and “recently I found an email I had written to my father, who passed away in 2009, with pretty much this exact business idea.” She wanted to share her love of ceramics with this amazing community and give others the chance to experience working with clay.
Almost 17 years later, she made it happen.
“Centering clay on a potter’s wheel, or creating a hand-built form, requires focus and concentration,” she explains. “Your hands are in clay, and not on your phone. It’s therapeutic and meditative. It’s challenging. It’s tactile. It quiets the constant noise in your head, the to-do lists and worries we all have. I think the world needs more of that. It allows you to take a breath.”
She and her husband, Eric decided to purchase a commercial unit in November 2020. “To find a spot like this in town, at ground-level with a garage door, we just knew this unit was going to work,” she explains.
Together they leaned into the Covid reality and spent about eight months renovating the space and researching clay studios around the country.
Luisa had her own aesthetic, wanting the studio to feel light and clean despite the dusty business of working with clay and she set the tone for a tidy and regularly clean space with white walls. Her husband, a lighting design specialist, brightened the space for working areas and gallery space, which really set the tone. They changed the garage door out for one with windows, bringing in more natural light.
“It’s not a huge space, we had to be very mindful of design and getting it right,” she says. “It was sort of nice to have the forced isolated time during Covid to plan it out, but also tricky since supplies were hard to get.”
The timing turned out to be right on the mark, as people emerged from the forced distancing ready for connection and creation, and social media ushering in a surge of appreciation for ceramics. “Clay was getting popular,” she says. “I didn’t know if it would work in our small community, but I was ready to try.” She opened the studio doors in June 2021.
Naughton managed the studio herself for the first year or so and then found great staff members to help. “I have a fantastic team of teachers and Kara Chambers has been an amazing studio manager as well. I couldn’t do this without them.”
Chambers chimes in, “The Clay Studio has fit a much-needed creative community space in CB. There are so many outdoor activities to pursue and it’s really nice to have an indoor option that all can participate in. Who doesn’t love connecting with the earth and getting their hands in clay?!”
Throughout the year, there are classes for ages nine and up, including high school classes, private and group lessons, workshops, events and visiting artists.
“It’s a great experience for families, from kids to grandparents. Families have had a lot of fun coming in here,” she says.
“And everyone is at the same starting point—if you haven’t thrown on a wheel before, it doesn’t matter how old you are.” The clay studio can fire pottery for visitors and ship clients their finished product.
Memberships include access to all the tools and equipment, a curated variety of glazes, two electric kilns and a range of shelf storage for each artist depending on their production volume.
One member, Megan Jennings, found ceramics through the clay studio five years ago. “It was a happy little whim,” she explains. “A spontaneous decision that quietly reshaped my creative life.”
Since the studio opened, over 70 members have joined. And they each have different paths into ceramics.
“The studio has become a refuge for me,” says studio member Jamie Booth. “It has allowed me the opportunity to return to clay after my college years and, in doing so, I’ve become part of an energetic community I wouldn’t have otherwise found.”
Twice each year the clay studio turns into a market where members can sell their work. “For a lot of my studio members, it’s their first time ever selling, so it’s a nice intro into that world. Because once you start making ceramics, you do end up with a lot. You can’t keep it all!” says Naughton. Those markets take place in July and December. Last summer, members also began selling their work on Sundays on Elk Avenue during the art market in tandem with the farmer’s market. She says many artists have taken their work to market, and even started businesses based on their ceramics work.
While classes are often a jumping off point, the clay studio has become a community connection point for many residents, part-time residents and visitors as well who return time and again.
“I’ve gotten so much out of this, met so many wonderful people and continue to learn and grow,” says Naughton. “Working with your hands is so important. I felt I had the ability to offer this to our community and the timing was right. I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to try it as well as create a community around it.”
She says it’s exciting to have people to talk “clay” with, to unload the kilns together. “We talk about why something maybe didn’t work and we celebrate our successes. It’s one of those things where I’ve been doing it for a really a long time, but I can still learn something from someone who just started.”
Naughton herself makes functional ceramics for everyday use, which can be found in the retail gallery of the studio along with the work of several other members. “We all work a little differently, and we all learn from each other.”
Naughton says when she takes stock of the close friendships that she and others have formed through the studio she feels she has achieved what she wanted.
“It has taken on a life well beyond me—which is the point,” she says.
More information about memberships, classes and workshops can be found at crestedbutteclaystudio.com
