POT is a full-service pottery studio owned and operated by people of color, a majority of which are women and Los Angeles natives. We are devoted to celebrating the cultures and communities surrounding us through an ancient art form that connects so many of us. We felt a need for a space that felt accessible and empowering for those that felt marginalized in ceramic spaces – namely persons of color, the queer community, and millennials. Plus, we are huge pottery lovers who admire the craft for all its creative, therapeutic, and cultural elements.
We’ve been getting weird since July 2017, and we’ve thus developed a community of kind, radical, funny, and incredibly supportive people. Our staff consists of and is run by our members. We are outsiders to the institution of art, do everything in house, and we have a DIY non-traditional approach to all things. Most of us are POC, many of us are queer, and we are always committed to proliferating radical art and providing a safe space for uncensored creative expression. We aim to provide an alternative to vanilla pottery spaces.
Mandy, our founder, is Iranian and wanted to celebrate LA being a hub for so many diasporas seeing as LA is the largest diaspora for Iranians in the world. Her dream was to facilitate a space that builds community and cultivates culture in Los Angeles, while also creating fun fulfilling jobs with living wages for radical POC artists. With Mandy being an avid handbuilder, she enlisted the help of our Studio Manager Ambar to man the wheel (literally) and opened POT. Ambar is an LA-native Salvi woman with a commitment to radical activism, and she is also a self-taught wizard at the wheel. The two shared a commitment to activism, social politics, laughing, and pottery – which made POT come to fruition organically.
Part of POT’s mission is to break down the walls surrounding art spaces in LA and create a beginner’s oriented studio. We recognize that not all of us are raised with the privilege of growing up with the arts, many of us are adults wanting to try new things for the first time – and that’s a beautiful thing. We aim to provide a chill and fun adult atmosphere where people can laugh, dig their hands in, and build up a fire inside through pottery. This is ceramics for activists, meme lovers, abuelas, and everything in-between.
POT is committed to being accessible to persons of color and the native Echo Park community. We have numerous practices to ensure we give back to the community.
Please visit our Community page for more information. POT is an inclusive space for everyone. We encourage you all to sit back relax, connect, laugh, and get your hands on some pot…tery.
Find out more HERE!
