I’ve been dreaming of opening a community clay studio and residency center for over twenty years, and it’s finally becoming a reality. My husband Nick and I moved to Portugal in September 2024, and have been renovating the art residency house and building out a studio space to get things started. We’re also building partnerships with local artists for collaborations and events. The goal is that this collective community of artists can help lift each other up in all aspects of the creative process, all the way through connecting with like-minded artists, art appreciators and supporters.

Since we are bootstrapping this project we've relied heavily on our community to help raise awareness and funds to get things off the ground.

Last year I collaborated with 7 different artists to create 11 one-of-a-kind pieces of art. The direct donations and donations received via raffle tickets, helped us raise over $15,000 (after taxes, processing fees, and conversion to Euros that’s 9,700 €)! I used thousands of my own money to purchase kilns, 2 pottery wheels, clay, glaze chemicals, the studio space, and more, but the money raised helped us acquire even more equipment (breakdown below).

This year I’ll be collaborating with new artists (and maybe a few crowd favorites from last year) to continue fundraising for more studio equipment and the components needed to build a soda fire kiln (the kiln building will also be a workshop so others can learn how to build and fire one). While we got an amazing deal on kiln brick last year, we're hoping to raise another $12,000 in 2025 to cover the other materials costs of building this kiln. If you’d like to help you can donate directly below, or use your donation for a chance to win one of the collaborations, by choosing to donate through one of the raffle items below.