Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Clients can expect new offerings such as clay memberships and intermediate classes, as well as added services such as sewing, yarn work, floral classes and seasonal crafts.
“In a culture that desires immediacy, clay forces you to slow down and appreciate... skilled craftmanship,” Richard said. “It’s an art form that takes a long time to actually get good at. I want to be a studio where everybody feels comfortable to try anything. You should be celebrated for giving it a go.”
With the move, MADE will be rebranded to MADE Studio & Shop.
Meet the owner
The Pittsburg native, who moved to Dayton in 2015 to study mechanical engineering at the University of Dayton, found a love for ceramics when she took a pottery class her last semester of college.
“It was the first time I touched a wheel,” Richard said. “I just fell in love. I would spend 10 hours in the studio a week. It just clicked.”
After graduating from college in 2019, she joined Decoy Art Center in Beavercreek. When the community studio closed, the owner, clay manager and Richard started a small studio at Front Street Art Gallery.
“I love being able to make something I can use,” Richard said. “I think that’s very powerful.”
This led to Richard starting her own LLC in 2021 with very little to her name, a pottery wheel and kiln. She moved to St. Anne’s Hill in 2022 and opened MADE in a shuttered storefront that once served the neighborhood as a laundromat.
Credit: Contributed Photo
Credit: Contributed Photo
“I love art for the sake of art. I think beauty and culture is really important and community building,” Richard said. “I really fell in love with the business owning side of it. I’m lucky in that way.”
Richard is now pursuing her MBA at UD, while working at the Hanley Sustainability Institute. She hopes MADE will be her full-time job in the future.
What to expect on Wayne Avenue
Clients can expect a retail space with handmade items and three classrooms in the front portion of the 8,000-square-foot building.
There will be a classroom for wheel work, another for hand building and the last will be for fiber arts and seasonal crafts.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
“It’s the skills that our grandmother forgot to teach us,” Richard said.
The back of the space will be dedicated to those that buy clay memberships. These memberships will be similar to a gym membership where the member will pay a monthly fee to utilize the space.
“If you wanted to do pottery, it’s pretty inaccessible just to like get the materials yourself, buy a kiln, buy a wheel, let alone want to put that in your home,” Richard said.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
One of the main reasons she decided to expand is because people have been asking for memberships and she needed a bigger space to provide that service.
Clay memberships in other cities typically range from $100 to $200. Prices for MADE are to be announced.
A community builder
Richard toured the new space in December and got the keys in May. She’s currently working with an architect and has plans to build walls and update the electric. Her goal is to open mid- to late-fall.
“I am building things out to be flexible for what we receive,” Richard said. “If there’s a desire for more wheels, there’s no reason we can’t put more in.”
Credit: Contributed Photo
Credit: Contributed Photo
She’s also working with other artists and makers in the community to bring the space to life.
“I can’t really speak to what other pottery scenes look like in different cities, but... I mean I’m not from here and I was welcomed in and am now opening a pottery studio,” Richard said. “That’s pretty crazy to me.”
She described the pottery scene in Dayton as pretty large for the amount of people in the city. Richard said there’s an exceptional amount of interest from the average person.
At one time, the studio hosts three, six-week series with eight people in each class.
“I think pottery is a unique art form,” Richard said. “This sounds cheesy, but it really is a community builder. You are in a space and you’re bouncing ideas off of people because of the nature of you have to build something. There’s a lot of skill development, but then you can put your own flair on it.”
Richard is looking forward to welcoming more people in the studio.
“That’s really fun to watch people progress in an art form that who knows if they would ever try if we didn’t exist,” Richard said.
Credit: Contributed Photo
Credit: Contributed Photo
MORE DETAILS
MADE is a studio for those 18 and older. It’s open 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Classes are posted online with spots available throughout the summer.
“We are a space for beginners. Anyone is welcome and should feel comfortable taking classes,” Richard said.
For more information and updates about MADE, visit madedayton.com or the studio’s Instagram page (@made.by.dayton).
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