-Owner-

Jennie Dito, owner and founder of Mill Valley Potter’s Studio, is a Marin County native. She studied art history and environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz and completed certificate courses in environmental and business law and architecture at the University of San Diego and at Harvard. Jennie is committed to environmental conservation and arts education. She is also a ceramics enthusiast and finds working with clay the best outlet and escape from her busy schedule. She founded the studio in 2011 while working in the renewable energy industry.

Jennie now divides her time between an interior architecture design firm and the Studio. On her time off, she enjoys the great outdoors, running, and hiking with her husband, John, and dog, Timber.

-Instructor-

Jennifer was born in Spokane, Washington. She spent 28 years living in rural Utah before returning to the Bay Area. Her background includes running an independent production studio while selling her wares at her retail shop and at art fairs. She is also an avid volunteer at local community art centers. She has over nine years experience teaching ceramics to high school and middle school children in various academic environments, including Dunn School and Wasatch Academy, both private boarding schools. She enjoys igniting the creative passion in her students and seeing them reach their own personal success. Although wheel thrown pottery is her foundation, hand building and sculpture are her preferred forms of ceramic expression. She brings knowledge of alternative firing techniques and a positive pedagogy to MVPS.

-Studio Monitor & Tech-

Lillian is a recent graduate of Sonoma State University, where she acquired a B.A in Art Studio with an emphasis in Ceramics. She has been working with clay since high school and loves the tactility of the medium and the therapeutic atmosphere that a clay studio brings her. She primarily throws on the wheel and is interested in experimenting with form and function to create pieces that are exciting as well as practical. In addition to her own clay work, she is quite intrigued with the technical side of ceramics and loves finding ways to keep the studio running in the most efficient style.

Lillian is a native to Marin and Sonoma counties and in her free time she tries to get outside and enjoy the beautiful environments as much as possible. She loves being part of a community studio, where she has the opportunity to give back to so many.

Lucy Alexander is a Tam Valley native and experienced potter. She is the Programs Manager as well as an instructor at Mill Valley Pottery Studio. She is very passionate about ceramics and loves to share her wealth of knowledge and experience. Lucy works with mid-rage stoneware clay and makes functional wheel thrown work. She also collaborates with her mom as a photographer for a food blog that can be found on Lucy’s website www.barestoneware.com where you can also see examples of her ceramic work.

-Instructor-

Lynne Meade was born in Buffalo, N.Y. and raised outside Boston. She studied ceramics at Wesleyan University and Penland School of Crafts. Since 1986 she has taught classes at MIT, The New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts, ASUC at UC Berkeley, and workshops around the country. She also exhibits regularly at craft fairs and galleries. Lynne is widely recognized for her hand carved vessels and tile work.

-Instructor-

Nadia was born in Strasbourg, France and grew up in Sweden and France. She first studied ceramics and sculpture in Europe and the United States since 1989. Her focus on the history of ceramics lead her to study and publish on the archaeology of Central Asia, with an emphasis on Buddhist Studies. She also teaches at the Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts and is the Director for the Terra Linda Ceramics. Some of her pieces have earned awards, and her work can be seen in regional shows.

-Operations Manager-

Rebecca was born in Los Angeles, California. She received her BA in Art with an emphasis in Art History at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Following graduation she spent a semester as a prior degree student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before attending the San Francisco Art Institute for her MFA in Studio Art. She has taught at the Green Art Workshop, assisted teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute, and occasionally works as a private studio assistant. Her current personal practice utilizes experimental methods in casting concrete as well as exploring all the possibilities that the ceramic world has to offer.

-Instructor-

Robert has been working with clay since 1993, and teaching pottery since 2001. He has an MFA in Sculpture from the Academy of Art University. Robert has taught at many studios here in the SF Bay Area, including 10 years at the Berkeley Art Studio at UC Berkeley, as well as at The Potters’ Studio (Berkeley), and the Richmond Art Center. Currently, you can see Robert’s work at Room Art Gallery in Mill Valley, The Potters’ Studio Gallery in Berkeley, and on the web.

-Instructor and Programs Manager-

Sarah was born in San Mateo where she has spent the majority of her life, but now lives in Sausalito with her husband, Ben, and their dog, Scrappy. She lived in Hong Kong as a young child, studied in England for her GCSE’s and A levels, then graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Studio Art: Concentration in Ceramics and Painting.

Sarah naturally gravitates towards ceramics because of its therapeutic tangible beauty and it’s ability to allow oneself to express in any visual and functional form. Outside of the ceramics world, Sarah loves to hike, enjoys experiencing different cultures and sings/performs with her band every month.