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Ceramics Studio

From TCM Wiki

The Ceramics Studio was initially started in 2025 in the main TCM building in a room behind the woodshop. As interest grew, the space dedicated to the Ceramics Studio was expanded, and the studio was moved into the Annex (the building across the driveway from the main TCM building). To support the growing studio, the Leadership team was expanded and new policies and procedures were implemented.

Now the Ceramics studio boasts significant square footage dedicated to: working with clay, creating plaster molds and doing slip casting, glaze application and development, kiln firing, and also infrastructure for orientations and teaching classes.

The Ceramics team continues to develop the curriculum and offerings for classes, workshops, events such as work parties, and cross-shop collaboration. Check the TCM Calendar for more details!

Join Us!

Consider becoming a TCM member! You can find more details about that on the TCM website.

TCM Members interested in using the Ceramics studio should book an Orientation to become familiar with the space before using it.

Members and non-members alike may view and register for workshops and classes via the TCM calendar.

Ceramics Studio Policies

  1. Materials Policy
  2. Sanding / Polishing Policy
  3. Kiln Firing Policies
  4. Glaze Lab Policies
  5. Tools Policy
  6. Towels & Aprons Policy
  7. Material Safety Data Sheets ("MSDS") available through Minnesota Clay Company: https://www.mnclay.com/msds/raw_materials.aspx

Ceramics Studio Processes

  1. Accessing the Ceramics Studio
  2. Entering the Studio as a Member
  3. Entering the Studio as a Non-Member
  4. Wedging the Clay
  5. Handbuilding
  6. Wheelthrowing
  7. Mold Making
  8. Slip Casting
  9. Bisque-Firing Greenware
  10. Applying Commercial Glazes
  11. Firing Glazed Work
  12. Retrieving Work from Kiln as a Non-Member
  13. Emptying the Clay Trap
  14. Reclaiming Clay
  15. Cleaning the Studio

Studio Equipment

Reservable Equipment / Spaces:

To reserve resources or space, please book "tool time" on TC Maker's Booked Scheduler.

Wheels

  • Wheel 1 | Treadle Wheel
  • Wheel 2 | Shimpo RK 2C, Orange
  • Wheel 3 | Shimpo RK 2C, Gray
  • Wheel 4 | Shimpo Ringcone RK 2, Gray
  • Wheel 5 | Shimpo RK 2
  • Wheel 6 | Shimpo RK 2C
  • Wheel 7 | Vintage Skutt Ceramic Products Potter's Wheel
  • Wheel 8 | Vevor 14" Pottery Wheel
  • Wheel 9 | Leach-style Treadle Wheel
  • Wheel 10 | Lockerbie Model K Kick Wheel
  • Wheel 11 | Brent Model 16 Adaptive Pottery Wheel
  • Wheel 12 | Artista by Speedball Tabletop Wheel

Handbuilding Stations

  • 16 Handbuilding Station spots

Glazing Stations

  • 2 Glazing Station spots

Non-Reservable Resources:

Kilns

  • B-27 H Cress Electric Manual Kiln (internal dimensions: TBD)
  • Skutt KMT-1227, Electric Automatic Kiln (internal dimensions: TBD)
  • Skutt KMT-1627PK, Electric Automatic Kiln (internal dimensions: TBD)
  • Skutt KM-1218-3”, Electric Automatic Kiln (internal dimensions: TBD)

General Tools

  • Shimpo 22L Banding Wheel, 8 ¾” x 2 ¼”
  • Shimpo BW-25H Banding Wheel, 9 ⅞” x 7 ½”
  • Misc. Handbuilding Tools

Purchase Consumables

You may purchase consumables, such as clay, through Wild Apricot.

Clay is currently the only consumable available for purchase through the studio, however in the future we will offer in-studio glaze for purchase as well as firing services for folks who are not using the studio, clay purchased through the studio, or the in-studio glaze, but need approved items fired per our policies.

Please refer to the Materials Policy for more information on what is allowed to use in the studio.

Leadership Team

JJ Bunch is standing on a beach with wet sand and clouds covering the sun behind their shoulder. Waves are visible with whitecaps and are grey blue. JJ is wearing a black hat and is looking directly at the camera and smiling with their mouth closed. They have a black and white patterned tank top on with a black over-the-shoulder bag strap visible across their body.
Image of JJ Bunch standing on the beach and smiling at the camera.

JJ Bunch (they / them) - Orientation Manager

JJ Bunch is a visual artist working across media while investigating the ways in which holding space for happiness can look and feel. By allowing for celebrations of intrinsic joy and phenomena of gratitude, their work promotes a framework of  optimism and wellness. Jules completed their Master of Fine Art in Sculpture and Intermedia at the University of Iowa in  2022 and their Bachelor of Fine Art in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois.

Email: jj.bunch@tcmaker.org

Image of Paola Evangelista crouching and smiling inside of a kiln with ceramic work stacked to the side. Paola's hair is dark and pulled back into a ponytail which is laying over her shoulder. A dangling earring is visible next to her ponytail. Her head is tilted down and her gaze is ahead of her and to the side. She is wearing a dark blue heathered t-shirt with a white skull design on it and light-washed denim jeans.
Image of Paola Evangelista crouching and smiling inside of a kiln with ceramic work stacked to the side.

Paola Evangelista (she / her / ella) - Curriculum and Marketing Manager

Paola is a ceramic artist, teaching artist, and healing facilitator born in Lima, Peru and rooted in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. She comes from a family of thinkers, community-driven activists, and makers – a household grounded in the tradition of craft that drew her first to fashion design and then, inevitably, to clay. So similar but so different. She received a BA in Art with a focus in ceramics from Central Connecticut State University and completed the MN NICE residency program at Northern Clay Center in 2020 under the mentorship of Ursula Hargens. Currently, she works as a Studio Technician at Macalester College, as a Teaching Artist at Northern Clay Center, and as a ceramics instructor and studio manager at Twin Cities Maker – where she helped establish the organization's ceramics studio in 2025. Her practice embodies the cosmovision of the indigenous people of Peru. Through community, ritual, and the craft, we stay connected to one another and to the whole of the cosmos. This is why she is drawn to wood and soda firing – the communal vigil of tending the fire through the night, reading the fire together, surrendering the work to the flames and the atmosphere. Her ceramic work, organic in form, becomes the physical vessel that holds it all – and from which she pours what she is able to give back. As a healing facilitator, she is extending her ceramic practice into ceremonial community spaces that look like equinox workshops, altar-building gatherings, and healing circles that bring together the political and the spiritual, the material and the sacred. She is currently developing a body of work for exhibition and a growing series of ceremonial offerings rooted in the connection we have to each other, connection to the land, and our shared cultural inheritance. She is embodying art as healing, gaining self-knowledge through the slow making process, and helping build a stronger, more resilient community.

Email: paola.evangelista@tcmaker.org

Image of Amanda Kieval sitting in a wildflower field and smiling directly at the camera. The sky behind her is blue and dappled with fluffy white and gray clouds; there are trees on the horizon; and pink, purple, blue, and yellow wildflowers are visible in a green field. Amanda has brown hair pulled back with the exception of side-swept bangs, has a gold septum ring, and is smiling with their teeth visible. She is wearing a long-sleeve heathered grey shirt with Camelbak backpack straps with chest strap visible on top.
Image of Amanda Kieval sitting in a wildflower field and smiling directly at the camera.

Amanda Kieval (she / her) - General Operations Manager

Amanda is professional project manager with a general curiosity in various artistic media and crafts. Most recently, she has been interested in figure drawing, pastels, embroidery, sewing, and ceramics. A native Texan, Amanda has found a welcome home in Minnesota and enjoys exploring the natural beauty of this place (in all four seasons), but also enjoys hiking and camping in the Mountain West. TCM has offered her a wonderful way to build community with like-minded creatives.

Email: amanda.kieval@tcmaker.org

Image of Nat Nicholson on a sandy river beach smiling over her shoulder at the camera. The shore is tree-lined and behind her and the sky is blue with a few fluffy white clouds hanging just above the treeline. Nat's hair is blonde and with the exception of her bangs, pulled into braided pigtails over her shoulders. She has a vertical labret piercing on her lower lip, is wearing transparent yellow-framed glasses, and a chain necklace. She has on a black spaghetti-strap top.
Image of Nat Nicholson on a sandy river beach smiling over her shoulder at the camera.


Natalie "Nat" Nicholson (she / her) - Kiln Manager

Nat is a lover of all things clay and kilns, and has cultivated her sculptural practice in sincerity since 2017. She is happy to be a part of TCM as our ceramics studio grows. Her dream scenario occurs on a sunny day-- surrounded by fruit trees and grasses, in an outdoor grove steps away from our kiln room, doors flung open, birds in the sky, a whole day to make with clay alongside others.

Email: natalie.nicholson@tcmaker.org

Image of Mel Timpano standing and smiling next to a tree-lined and calm lake with a red canoe on the shore. The sun is behind their shoulder and is obscured by clouds. Mel is looking directly at the camera wearing a multi-colored textile cap with frayed brim, clear round-rimmed glasses, and a green scarf around her neck over a black long-sleeve top.
Image of Mel Timpano standing and smiling next to a tree-lined and calm lake with a red canoe on the shore.


Melanie "Mel" Timpano (she / they) - Glaze Manager

Melanie is supporting the TCM ceramics studio by testing and developing a set of house glazes. She has been playing with clay pretty regularly since 2023, and took ceramics classes in childhood and high school. She currently mixes glazes for the Powderhorn Pottery Studio at Powderhorn Park. To pay the bills, she works as a Registered Nurse. Before nursing, Mel was in organic vegetable farming for a decade, practiced as a doula, and taught community ed classes in lactofermentation and herbal medicine. In addition to ceramics, Mel keeps a large garden, and enjoys photography, textiles, biking, and canoeing.

Email: melanie.timpano@tcmaker.org



Contact Us!

The Ceramics leadership team can be contacted via email at ceramics@tcmaker.org or else via Discord in the #ceramics channel.

For Shop Updates:

  • See the Discord #ceramics channel
  • Refer to emails from TCM and be sure to subscribe to the Ceramics newsletter
  • Check the TCM calendar https://tcmaker.org/calendar/,
  • Follow the TCM Instagram @twincitiesmaker, and also the TCM Ceramics Instagram @TCM.Ceramics.

Resources

Resources such as tutorials and videos to support your ceramics practice have been centralized for you on a Google sheet.

The documents linked in the "Ceramic Studio Policies" section of the Wiki also contains links to suggested vendors and preferred products for Members interested in sourcing their own materials and tools. Please remember to brush up on the materials policy before purchasing any materials. In general, there are great retailers in the Twin Cities and online, including:

If you have any suggestions for updates, or feedback on these resources, please email ceramics@tcmaker.org.

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