STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Allie Freund has a good reason to get her hands dirty with clay.
“For me it’s all about not looking at a computer screen,” said the architecture major, who grew up in the Wood River Valley. “I’ve been creating things out of clay for eight months and for me it’s fluid but also structured, which I like.”
Boulder Mountain Clayworks, which is where Freund indulges herself, is about to get more elbow room for potters like Freund to work.
Pam Doucette told those attending Clayworks’ annual Tuscany on Tenth fundraiser Thursday night that building owners Frank and Susan Ward had given them the studio space next to them so they can expand their space and their program.
Clayworks is planning a remodel involving a new classroom, office, clay storage area, sculpture wet room and more lockers. The remodel will also connect the two units that the Wards have given them so they don’t have to go outside one to enter the other.
“We talked about whether we wanted to stay or move and we decided we have these buildings here and it would be so difficult to find a place we can have these big gas kilns firing in the parking lot,” Doucette said, looking around Clayworks’ home in Ketchum’s 10th Street industrial area.
Doucette said the nonprofit organization hoped to generate $10,000 from Thursday’s fundraiser, which featured an array of auction items including a clay chess set made by Doucette, a birthday party complete with a clay cake stand and serving bowl made by Lauren Street and a Sun Valley ski pass.
Doucette said they would add that to another $10,000 in donations to start work in September when things slow down at the studio. The entire project will cost about $50,000 with some of the costs defrayed by donated labor from Bubba Street and others.
“We’re full to the brim. This renovation and expansion will allow us to bring in more groups like those from Higher Ground,” said Clayworks’ executive director Lauren Street.
Currently, about 650 people go through Clayworks’ classes each year, and scads of families drop in to build popcorn bowls or Santa candlesticks together.
Workshops, such as next week’s porcelain workshop with world-renowned ceramist Tom Coleman, fill up immediately.
The studio, founded by Susan Ward in 1997, sends potters to Camp Rainbow Gold to teach youngsters with cancer how to work with clay. Potters take clay to the parks throughout the Wood River Valley via the Bloom Truck. They provide palliative care with healing bowls. They host week-long summer throwing camps for teens and others.They work with special needs groups. And they open the doors to community members who come in and build 300 bowls for the annual Empty Bowls soup fundraiser for The Hunger Coalition.
“Our niche is to be creative with our hands in an experience that’s open to all,” said Doucette, noting that class fees cover about 60 percent of the costs.
More than a hundred supporters turned out Thursday night to ensure that Clayworks can continue its mission.
They noshed on tasty pea pods, Portabella mushrooms and wood-fired pizza served up by Ketchum Grill, while enjoying liquid refreshment served up in clay wine cups made by studio potters.
“It’s a fun event and it’s really grown,” said Sandra Caulkins, who attends every year with her husband Brian Caulkins. “Sue Conner invited us the first year and now we come every year for the cups. Not only do they make good wine cups but they make great ice cream bowls, too.”
John Ferrari took time to glaze and fire a cup of his own.
“I think I’m going to drink Jack Daniels out of it,” he quipped as he agonized over what colors to paint the cup.
Joshua Berry and Pearl Dixon, who attend college in Tucson, said it’s nice to have a place where they can create while spending summers in Sun Valley.
“It’s one of the few art forms where you can get physical,” said Berry, a photographer and cross-country bike racer.
Colette Evans said her 16-year-old daughter Esmee spends every day at Boulder Mountain Clayworks during the summer.
“She likes the creative part, putting her hands in the clay,” said her father Bas Verheijen. “She creates mugs and bowls and she helps with the kids’ camps.”
Michael Conger noted that the kilns and other equipment Susan Ward bought for the studio are “top notch.”
“Boulder Mountain Clayworks is a community,” he said. “It draws world renowned artists, like Coleman. And I like that it’s an open studio—its doors are open for people to come and throw any evening.”
Want to know more? Call 208-726-4484 or visit www.bouldermtnclay.org. The studio is located at 471 E. 10th St., Studio B6.