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Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 7pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Northern Clay Center

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Minneapolis, MN
Northern Clay Center

Northern Clay Center advances the ceramic arts for artists, learners, and the community, through education, exhibitions, and artist services.
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Opened in 1990, Northern Clay Center is now an established ceramic arts organization. Through special programs, lectures, symposia, and publications, we reach a national and international audience, as well as a direct audience of regional participants. Other programs, such as the American Pottery Festival, McKnight Residencies, and other fellowship grants, bring national artists to the region to continually feed a lively exchange of ideas and aesthetics.

10/09/2026

Join us from 6:30-8:30 pm on Wednesday, October 21 for an immersive presentation with curator, Kelly Connole, centered on her approach to developing the exhibition To Be Human. This in-person discussion includes a virtual conversation with participating artists who will discuss their diverse approaches to the figurative motif and share insights into their creative processes. Open to all, this event is offered in partnership with the International Sculpture Center’s 2026 Conference hosted in the Twin Cities.

Click the link in our bio to register for this free event!

10/08/2026

Meet Bill Jones, a 2025 Recipient of the McKnight Residency for Ceramic Artists!

Bill Jones grew up in an old stone farmhouse not far from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The son of a carpenter and a painter, Bill was immersed in a visually rich environment as a child and eventually went off to study architecture and design at Lehigh University and the University of Michigan. Bill left midway through getting his professional degree in architecture to seek out a more direct connection with material – a journey that eventually led him to Penland School of Craft and clay.

In 2013, Bill moved to Seagrove, NC for a two year formal apprenticeship with potter and sculptor, Daniel Johnston. Following this production-oriented education, Bill worked as a journeyman potter in North Carolina as he got his own studio practice off the ground. In the years since, Bill has shown his work around the country and taken on several artist in residence positions – most recently he was lead resident at Township10 in Marshall, NC. Bill now lives above his studio in Winston-Salem, NC with his dog Joey.

10/07/2026

Meet Stefani Threet, a 2025 Recipient of the McKnight Residency for Ceramic Artists!

Stefani Threet (Philadelphia, PA) is a ceramic artist, mentor, and community organizer whose work explores themes of cultural identity, utility, and connection. Utilizing atmospheric firing processes to reflect the unpredictability and emotional depth of lived experience, she honors imperfection, and reclaims the ceramic object as a vessel for truth, history, and radical imagination.

A graduate of Alfred University’s undergraduate ceramics program, Stefani has over 15 years of
experience as an art educator and ceramic arts instructor. She is the founder of Philadelphia’s first Black woman-owned ceramic gallery Ceramic Concept, served as a program manager for Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program, and has been awarded several residencies by institutions across the United States. Her work is featured in museum shops and galleries nationwide.

10/06/2026

Fall leaves bring new work from our Late Autumn Featured Artists! Click the link in our bio to shop now!

Featured artists this month: Linda Christianson Linda Christianson , Stephanie DeArmond Stephanie DeArmond , Janina Myronowa Janina Myronowa , Amy Sanders de Melo Amy , Jewelry Spotlight: Kristen Cliffel Kristen Cliffel Art

10/03/2026

Thank you to all that joined us for the public reception of our two current exhibitions, To Be Human curated by Kelly Connole Kelly Connole and The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining by Adam Chau Adam Chau . Didn’t get the chance to check out the exhibitions? They will be up through November 1 during normal gallery hours, always free to view!

Not local? Click the link in our bio to view the 3D tour and shop exhibition work online!

09/28/2026

Join us this Friday, October 2 from 6 - 8 pm for the opening reception of our two new exhibitions, “To Be Human” and “The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining.” The reception is free and open to the public, but we request that folks RSVP at the link in our bio for the refreshments and attendance tracking.

About the exhibitions: Exploring the physical weight of human emotion and the surreal intersections of art and artificial intelligence, two groundbreaking ceramic exhibitions are presented by Northern Clay Center. Curated by Kelly Connole Kelly Connole , the main exhibition, “To Be Human,” features poignant works from renowned sculptors Cristina Córdova, Michelle Gregor, Ashlyn Pope, and Kensuke Yamada, who utilize the tactile medium of clay to confront memory, identity, and the physical body. Alongside it in the Galusha Gallery, Adam Chau’s solo exhibition, “The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining,” harnesses AI technology and traditional porcelain to build a fictional child named Billie, using sculpture to probe themes of q***r family-making, digital manufacturing, and modern folklore.

09/25/2026

Join us on Saturday, October 3 at 11 am for a special free presentation and live demonstration with To Be Human artist and educator Kensuke Yamada. Drawing on his Japanese heritage, Yamada will share how he combines contemporary imagery with elements of Japanese folklore. Through this mix of the familiar and the fantastical, attendees will see how he explores the emotional depth of everyday life to create a space for connection.

The artist talk will take place in the Main Exhibition Gallery starting at 11 am.
The demonstration will take place in Teaching Studio C starting at 12:30 pm.

Biography:
Kensuke Yamada draws on his Japanese heritage to explore identity, folklore, and the emotions found in moments in everyday life. “Through this mix of the familiar and the fantastical, I aim to create a space for connection, where distant worlds and shared stories come together.” He has participated in numerous artist residencies and visiting artist programs, including The Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, and The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and it is included in various museum and institutional collections. He is currently an assistant professor at California State University, Chico CA.

Click the link in our bio to learn more about To Be Human, and to register for the free related events!

09/23/2026

Join artist Adam Chau at NCC on Friday, October 2 from 5 - 6 pm for an insightful free talk regarding his work in his new exhibition, The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining. Chau will discuss how he blends traditional studio ceramics with industrial design, utilizing 3D modeling, digital manufacturing, and blue-and-white porcelain aesthetics to contemporize tradition for the 21st century. Click the link in our bio to register for the free talk!

The opening reception for both current exhibitions, To Be Human and The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining, will follow the talk until 8 pm.

About The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining: Adam Chau’s work has always looked at how technology aids, challenges, and enhances society. His research with Artificial Intelligence has allowed him to think like Geppetto and create his own child by using AI software to take childhood pictures of himself and his husband to create a fictional son, Billie. With a series of porcelain objects that reference Billie, this exhibit will investigate how sculpture can aid in the celebration or fantasy in having a family in a q***r context and surrealist framework. From cultural identity to folklore (such as Pinocchio), Billie will have many sprawling ideas from each work to the next.

09/22/2026

We have two new exhibitions up and open to the public! To Be Human, curated by Kelly Connole, and The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining by Adam Chau are both up through November 1 during normal gallery hours. Click the link in our bio to learn more about both exhibitions and their related events.

About To Be Human: Clay remembers every touch. It holds the imprint of fingers, the weight of emotion, and the passage of time. To Be Human is a provocative exploration of the human condition through the poignant work of four artists whose work centers the human figure as both subject and symbol. Each of these makers celebrates clay’s ability to hold complexity, contradiction, tenderness and truth while they bring their own lived experience to the work. To Be Human is not just about what a body looks like, but what it carries. The exhibition aims to be a meditation on empathy and our ability to see ourselves in others– to be curious about the stories we do not yet know.

Participating artists include: Cristina Córdova, Michelle Gregor, Ashlyn Pope, and Kensuke Yamada.

About The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining: Adam Chau’s work has always looked at how technology aids, challenges, and enhances society. His research with Artificial Intelligence has allowed him to think like Geppetto and create his own child by using AI software to take childhood pictures of himself and his husband to create a fictional son, Billie. With a series of porcelain objects that reference Billie, this exhibit will investigate how sculpture can aid in the celebration or fantasy in having a family in a q***r context and surrealist framework. From cultural identity to folklore (such as Pinocchio), Billie will have many sprawling ideas from each work to the next.

Address

2424 E Franklin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
55406

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 7pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+16123398007

Website

http://www.northernclaycenter.org/, https://linktr.ee/northernclaycenter

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